A third of drivers have had their cars damaged by a pothole, according to a poll from road safety charity the IAM dated July 2011.

A further 16 per cent have been involved in, or have seen an accident caused by a road user hitting a pothole. Of the 2600 respondents, 88 per cent voted pothole repair the top priority for local council maintenance.

Only 14 per cent of people think that their council's current performance maintaining local roads is good or very good, with more than half rating it as bad or very bad. When asked what areas of road maintenance were being done well, 50 per cent responded ‘none', and half also think that the roads in their area are getting worse.

Overall, Welsh respondents are the happiest with council road maintenance, with 27 per cent rating performance as good. Respondents from the South East are the least happy with local road maintenance with only ten per cent rating it as good. Londoners were an exception to this - 18 per cent rated their council as good. Many comments suggested that local government spending cuts are the cause of these problems.

Respondents weren't just negative about the authorities themselves. Keeping foliage and grass cut back to preserve visibility, and annual surface dressing of worn out roads, were the second and third most important maintenance factors, at 64 and 58 per cent respectively.

IAM director of policy and research Neil Greig said: "The public is unhappy with the state of their roads, although many realise that spending cuts are the real problem. Eighty per cent of those polled thought that local councils should work more closely together to increase efficiency, and with no loosening of the public purse strings in sight it will take partnerships to ensure the backlog in road maintenance does not continue to stack up."

Surrey motorist David Kellie, 63, said: "Who needs 'sleeping Policemen'? The roads are in such a poor state of repair that most drivers are unable to keep up with speed limits. Those on two wheels are in constant danger of being thrown off whether it be a motorbike or cycle. We are fed up of hearing about cuts as the motorist is charged more at the pumps and through road tax. Where does the money go" he asked.

Fill That Pothole!