NEWCASTLE'S most potholed road has been revealed, writes Daniel Holland.

The Great North Road topped the list for the largest number of reported potholes in the city in 2017/18, with a whopping 111.

The busy route was also top of the list in 2015/16 and third in 2016/17, with a recorded 96 and 65 potholes respectively.

Ponteland Road is second on this year’s list with 69, closely followed by Scotswood Road on 68, with Main Road on 52 and Gosforth’s High Street on 49.

There were a total of 15,296 potholes reported across Newcastle in 2017/18, an increase on the 14,124 from the previous year but significantly lower than 2015/16’s 20,131.

According to information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, Newcastle City Council spent £179,891 on pothole repairs last year, while it has also paid out more than £3,000 in each of the past three years on damage report claims due to potholes.

Earlier this year, the authority estimated that it would need to spend £140m to carry out every bit of road and pavement maintenance across the city, after the significant damage caused by freezing conditions last winter.

Civic centre chiefs have seen their highways maintenance and operations budget slashed from £11.2 million in 2013/14 to an estimated £3.8 million by 2021.

Coun Arlene Ainsley, cabinet member for transport and air quality at Newcastle City Council, said: “In Newcastle we recognise the importance of keeping our roads in good condition.

“We have recently been awarded a further £296,000 from the Department for Transport to repair potholes and protect local roads from severe weather.

“We welcome this but sadly it is not enough to offset the big funding cuts that we are having to manage.

“The impact of austerity has affected many front line services, including or highways repair budget which will soon be reduced to around £3.8m – just a third of what we once had for dealing with highways issues, including potholes.

“It is important to note that the funding we have for maintaining roads is different from the funding made available for investment in our infrastructure – which can only be spent on improvements and cannot be used for road repairs.

“We will continue to prioritise our resources to ensure we deal with the most urgent repairs but what is needed is much greater national funding to help council deal with the challenges of maintaining an ageing and deteriorating infrastructure.”

Newcastle’s Top 5 pothole hotspots

2017/18

Great North Road – 111

Ponteland Road – 69

Scotswood Road – 68

Main Road – 52

High Street – 49

2016/17

Coast Road – 73

Scotswood Road – 71

Great North Road – 65

Scrogg Road – 47

Denton Road – 45

2015/16

Great North Road – 96

Ponteland Road – 83

Westgate Road – 62

West Road – 58

Coast Road – 56