Labour has been slammed for failing to repair enough potholes last year, as well as wasting funds on road restoration projects which could have been completed at a much cheaper rate.
It comes after a report found that local authorities across the UK could have repaired more than 30 million potholes last year if they adopted the lowest-cost repair approach.
A new investigation by Citroën UK revealed that councils could have filled over 17 times the number of potholes repaired last year if they had all paid the lowest amount possible for a single planned pothole repair.
The report found that only 1.89 million potholes were filled last year, but this figure could have reached 33.3 million with a standardised approach to repairs.
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Labour pledged to invest £1.6billion to fix an additional one million potholes every year
PAThe findings follow the Government committing an additional £1.6billion to councils to tackle the growing pothole crisis.
Citroën has now called for standardisation across councils to ensure more efficient pothole repairs throughout the country. The investigation uncovered significant disparities in pothole repair costs between local authorities across Britain.
A Freedom of Information request revealed that Shetland Islands Council spent up to £656 per single planned pothole repair in 2024. Other high-spending councils included Shropshire Council at £654 and Coventry City Council at £633.90 per repair.
In stark contrast, Cardiff Council spent just £4.13 on a single planned pothole repair during the same period, while Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (£18.06), London Borough of Southwark (£34.75) and East Riding of Yorkshire Council (£35) were among the lowest spenders.
This price disparity meant that if all 1.89 million potholes filled in 2024 were repaired at the most expensive rate, it would cost local authorities £1.24billion.
But if the same repairs were done at Cardiff's rate, it would total just £7.84million, creating a potential saving of £1.23billion.
Citroën's research warned that the Government's significant investment in pothole repairs risks being wasted without a standardised approach.
If all councils adopted Cardiff's £4.13 repair rate, the Government funding could potentially fix 387 million potholes. This contrasts sharply with just 2.4 million additional potholes being filled if all councils spent at the Shetland Islands' rate of £656 per repair.
Greg Taylor, managing director of Citroën UK, said: "Road conditions in Great Britain continue to deteriorate year-on-year and our data highlights the issues around pothole repairs, in particular the considerable overspending on planned and reactive pothole repairs because of a non-standardised approach to maintenance.
"We're glad that the Government has committed to giving councils an additional £1.6billion to repair potholes, but without a standardised approach, this money is at risk of being wasted."
Potholes have caused councils to spend a total of £19.7million in compensation related to road defect damage.
Citroën's investigation also found there is no standard definition of what depth constitutes a pothole, though around three-quarters of surveyed councils use a guideline depth of 40mm.
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Experts found that pothole repairs could have been done at a much cheaper rate
PATransport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, had previously stated: "After years of neglect, we’re tackling the pothole plague, building vital roads and ensuring every penny is delivering results for the taxpayer.
"Our Plan for Change is reversing a decade of decline and mending our pothole-ridden roads, which damage cars and make pedestrians and cyclists less safe."
