THE number of potholes reported to highways bosses in Cumbria has almost doubled in the last three years.

Figures obtained following a Freedom of Information Act request show that in 2016 a total of 6,192 road surface defects were reported to Cumbria County Council. During that year 5,808 were repaired.

Cumbria County Council is responsible for maintaining the majority of roads in the county with the exception of trunk roads such as the A590 which comes under the authority of Highways England.

The council has the fourth largest highway network in England with 7,900 km c/way,

In 2017 some 7,777 potholes were reported with 6,443 repaired.

The following year the number of reports rose to 11,009 with 11,367 repaired.

A spokesman for the authority said: “Cumbria County Council will treat a pothole as urgent if the depth is greater than 40mm.

“The decision on what action is taken and how quickly is based on how long or deep a pothole is and the volume of traffic using the road.

We use a combination of these factors to prioritise the problem and either repair it or make it safe within a particular timescale.

“We operate a risk-based approach, meaning that serious problems or problems on busier roads get fixed fastest.”

Increases in the number of potholes reported between 2016/17 and 2017/18 are attributable to a new online reporting system and significant weather events.

The number of potholes repaired is typically lower than the number reported because of duplicate reports.

In 2016/17 Cumbria County Council was allocated £1.4m by the Department of Transport from the Pothole Action Fund.

Of the six geographical areas making up the road network in Cumbria, Barrow received the smallest share of the funding - £144,000, in 2017/2018.

South Lakeland received £836,000, Eden received £208,000, Allerdale received £409,000, Carlisle received £307,000 and Copeland got £223,000.