In pictures: New Hastings pothole group exposes the state of our local roads

The group is named Hastings Potholes- the great zig-zag drive and already has nearly 600 members in the two weeks since it was formed.

Administrators for the group say it was started to allow people to share photographs and locations on bad potholes, along with links on where to report them. They encourage members to share information on how to claim for damages caused to vehicles.

A number of people on the group said they had been left with bills for burst and damaged tyres in Hastings, after hitting potholes at low speeds.

Bad potholes were shared on The Ridge, which is the main route to the Conquest Hospital, and on country lanes surrounding Hastings, which are poorly lit making the hazards harder to spot.

An East Sussex Highways spokesperson said: “Since the start of the new East Sussex Highways contract in May 2023, our teams have repaired a total of 16,281 potholes across East Sussex, including 1,943 in Hastings. This year we have a series of larger scale patching works planned for various area of Hastings including All Saints Street, Edmund Road and Harrow Lane.

“We are responsible for more than 2,000 miles of road so prioritise our work, according to locally approved policies to ensure potholes that present the greatest danger to road users are repaired as quickly as possible. To fix every pothole regardless of whether they are an immediate safety issue or not would mean a higher bills for council tax payers.”

“The majority of our investment in the county’s road network focusses on preventative maintenance such as patching and resurfacing to stop potholes appearing in the first place and we do this by looking at road condition and priorities against the available budget.”

“Our highways stewards carry out regularly check on roads across the county, but with more than 2,000 miles of carriageway to monitor we would urge the public to report any defects directly to us at www.eastsussexhighways.com.”.

Some people on the group criticised the ‘complex procedure’ required to make a claim against the county council for damages. One member commented: “It can take up to 90 days to sort it out, if you have the patience. Obviously, they make it as difficult as possible to make that claim.”

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