LANCASHIRE has the biggest pothole problem in the North West despite County Hall bosses spending more than £7million on repairs.

A total of 120,748 potholes were reported in the region in 2016, data from Confused.com’s reveals.

That amounts to a combined depth of almost 5km and 28 times the depth of the English Channel.

Last year, around 80,000 potholes were reported to Lancashire County Council.

This is higher than in anywhere else in the North West, including Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Cumbria and Merseyside.

In 2016 councils in the region forked out more than £16million to repair potholes and more than £152,000 in compensation to those who’ve had their car damaged by craters in the road.

County Hall bosses alone spent almost £7.2m to repair the potholes, which is more than any authority in the region and £29,075 in compensation.

North West councils also spent a combined sum of £152,274 to compensate drivers for damage to cars caused by potholes.

County Cllr Keith Iddon, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “Lancashire’s highways network is the biggest in the North West, over 4,400 miles in length, so it’s no surprise that we figure highly in a survey like this.

“However we also spend more to maintain them and prevent potholes appearing.

“We recognise how important roads are to our economy, ensuring people and goods can travel efficiently.

“We are investing a further £5m in highway maintenance this year on top of the funding we receive from the Department for Transport, adding up to a budget in excess of £24m for 2017/18.

“We expect to spend around £4m on repairs to potholes with the majority of the funding for planned maintenance which helps to prevent them in the first place.

“It is an ongoing challenge to keep our roads in good condition.

“However we are working hard to improve them and surveys indicate that we are finding fewer defects on the key A, B and C roads since adopting a long term strategy to improve the overall condition of our roads in 2014.”

Amanda Stretton, motoring editor at Confused.com, said: “Scrolling to depths of more than 40km really puts into perspective just how deep the UK’s pothole problem really is.

“They are a major bugbear among drivers, not least because of the damage they do to our vehicles, around £3.1 million worth of damage, which has been paid out by almost half of the UK’s councils.

“If drivers experience a bump in the road, they should report it to their local council as soon as possible before the problem gets any worse.”