Britain is facing a 'pothole crisis' because of Government spending cuts, the Local Government Association has warned.
The LGA has said that a bad winter or further reductions in road spending could leave thousands of roads in desperate need of repair.
Cuts to the road maintenance budget have forced local councils to 'patch up' deteriorating roads rather than resurface them properly; however, the LGA claims that repairing roads is 20 times more expensive in the long run than resurfacing them.
There are also fears that patched-up roads will be unable to cope with low temperatures over the winter.
The Government has responded to criticisms of underinvestment in the road network, claiming that it is providing around £3 billion to councils across England to repair badly maintained roads.
However, Economy and Transport Board Chairman Councillor Peter Box, claims that around £10 billion is needed to repair England's pockmarked highways.
He said: "Keeping roads safe is one of the most important jobs councils do and over the past two years they have fixed almost four million potholes, one every 16 seconds.
"Damage caused by severe winters and widespread flooding has compounded this deterioration and councils are now contending with massive cuts to roads maintenance funding and millions of pounds in compensation payouts for pothole damage."
