Satisfaction with roads across Blackburn with Darwen has fallen to just 10 per cent in a recent survey.

The research, conducted by the National Highways and Transport Network, which surveyed more than 71,000 people nationally in the early part of the summer asked if the number of potholes and damaged roads in the local area was better, worse or stable compared to the previous year.

In Blackburn with Darwen, just one in 10 responded positively about the borough's roads, while in the Lancashire County Council area - which covers roads in Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, the Ribble Valley and Rossendale - the figure was even lower at seven per cent.

Last year more than 6,700 potholes were repaired within 10 working days in Blackburn with Darwen, and where necessary repaired individually until the road could be resurfaced.

Carmel Foster-Devine, Head of Highways, Transport and Networks, said: “The findings of this year’s National Highways survey echo our own concerns on the condition of our roads, which are recognised across the UK and not just limited to Blackburn with Darwen.

“We plan and prioritise our resurfacing works using a data led approach to offer the best value for money and long-term performance and impact. Alongside this, we also inspect roads on a regular basis and repair defects that meet the criteria promptly.

“Unfortunately, due to the lack of funding we receive from the government, we can’t maintain our roads to the standard that we would prefer. Without a significant increase, the condition of our roads will get worse.”

In September, Blackburn with Darwen’s executive member for growth, Cllr Quesir Mahmood said that potholes were one of the biggest sources of complaints to the authority and admitted almost 500 of those reported last year failed to meet the minimum depth for repair.

The criteria for repairs in the borough is that footway potholes need to be 25 millimetres deep, the same as a two-pence coin, whilst on a road it needs to be the same depth as a golf ball, 40mm.

In 2023, 85,000 potholes were reported across Lancashire, the highest for any shire authority in England.

The authority said that it did not keep separate records for pothole repairs, but it conducted 6,754 highway defect repairs including potholes at this time.

Matt Townsend, director of highways and transport at Lancashire County Council, said: "We understand that potholes are a major concern for all road users.

"We identify the areas where our teams are often called to fix potholes, and are investing £10 million in schemes to address these frequently visited areas on our network to ensure that they can be addressed with large patching and small resurfacing schemes in order to protect the roads from damage in the future.

"We use a wide range of methods to make sure we can repair potholes as quickly as possible, and we use the most appropriate repair to suit the location, priority,  traffic and weather conditions.

"We know that this is a challenge faced by councils across the country due to record rainfall levels across the UK last year, but our investment means our pothole repair teams will be able to deliver quality repairs that will withstand the test of time and increase resilience during wet weather.

"We also currently expect to invest around £29m on maintaining road surfaces, and around £25m on streetlights, bridges and other highways-related maintenance in the current financial year, which will also help to increase resilience during wet weather."

Costs to bring pothole-plagued roads up to scratch have been estimated to cost £16.3 billion.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in her budget last month that the government will aim to fund work to fix an additional one million potholes in the 2024/25 financial year by increasing local road maintenance funding in England by £500 million to nearly £1.6 billion.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “For too long, this country has suffered from a pothole plague, which is why we’re investing a further £500 million in local highways maintenance funding next year, going beyond our original commitment to support local leaders to fix up to a million more potholes annually.

“We want to achieve this in the most cost-efficient way for the taxpayer by providing local authorities with multi-year funding settlements, enabling them to better maintain their roads and avoid potholes in the first place.”

Blackburn with Darwen Council was also contacted for comment.