The Labour council that has fixed just one mile of road out of 136 that need mending
Smashed suspensions, cracked wheels and punctured tyres are all regular problems tackled by Plymouth’s car repair garages.
But it’s not the drivers who are to blame for the damage to their vehicles – it’s the city’s potholes.
“Whenever I get my car checked, there’s always something up with my suspension because of the potholes,” said Chloe, a local motorist.
“They told me at my MOT that parts of my suspension are going,” added the twenty-year-old, who asked not to give her surname.
“I’m a great driver but there’s only so much you can do if you’re constantly diving into potholes, especially down these roads where you don’t have room to drive around them.
“If you go anywhere in Plymouth, you can find a pothole.”
Plymouth city council is the worst local authority for road repairs in England, according to analysis of Department for Transport (DfT) data by The Telegraph.
More than a quarter of the total mileage of its roads was flagged as needing maintenance – equivalent to 136 miles. However, just 0.7 per cent of that figure – the equivalent of one mile – was actually repaired last year.
The Telegraph has launched a nationwide campaign, Fix Our Potholes, to demand local authorities such as Plymouth start fixing their roads and improve conditions for motorists, businesses and emergency services.
Readers are sharing pictures and stories of the worst potholes they have encountered so the councils responsible can be encouraged to repair them.
The Telegraph visited Plymouth on Wednesday to speak to residents about the scale of the crisis in the city.
Many were not surprised to discover their council ranked bottom for fixing local roads that should have been considered for repairs.
The council has been controlled by Labour since the 2023 local elections and has been run by the party for 11 of the past 25 years, with the Tories’ 10 years interspersed with periods of no overall control.
Motorists said that their cars’ suspension was failing and even a cyclist described the state of the city’s roads as “rubbish”.
Last year a local news website dubbed Plymouth “weed city” over the number of wild plants growing from kerbs and grass verges alongside its highways.
The surfaces of those roads are in an equally poor state, with a local garage fixing up to eight vehicles a week that have been damaged by potholes.
“Customers are always blaming potholes when they come in,” said Izak Lee, 22, a mechanic at Stadium Garage in the Pennycross area of the city. “Their cars are falling apart at the seams. It’s a recurring issue.
“It can be punctures, alloy wheels snapping or cracking, link pins – they go all the time – or coil pins,” he continued.
“My missus is from Newton Abbot and I used to drive out there every weekend for the last five years and didn’t come across nearly as many potholes.
“I do seem to find Plymouth has a lot of potholes.”
On Durham Avenue, a narrow and steep residential street in the St Jude’s suburb of the city, The Telegraph counted 15 potholes in a 25 metre (22yd) stretch – an average of 1.6 per metre.
Potholes should be at least 40mm deep and 300mm long to be considered a defect that officials will repair, the council said.
Residents reported the poor conditions to the council in 2023, telling local news site Plymouth Live that they were being forced to “slalom” up and down their road due to its poor condition, but feel they have been ignored by the authority.
Cody Tobey, 35, who has lived in the road for two years, said: “The council doesn’t come out and fix them. Even though it was flagged a year ago, nothing’s changed. I haven’t seen them here. They are failing us.
“It rags your suspension. I’ve had to take previous cars into the garage because of the potholes. Plymouth in general is terrible for potholes.
“The council should be doing more. This should be a priority.”
Dave Allchin, 69, said that the council “come out to repair [potholes] only if they get really bad.
“They’re everywhere and it’s rubbish for cyclists like myself. This road is a real rat run which doesn’t help,” said the St Martin’s Avenue resident, who has lived there since 2015.
Jacinta Allerston, 33, from nearby Torr Avenue, added: “My two-year-old always says ‘it’s a bit bumpy’ whenever we leave in the car.
“I’ve only been driving six months and it makes it tricky. If you meet a car and you have to reverse, a pothole makes it that much more difficult.
“I’m not really surprised that Plymouth is the worst at repairing potholes. Plymouth seems to be behind other councils on a whole range of things.”
Poor council services are a recurring theme among locals.
In October a Labour councillor admitted that officials do not know where its grit bins are located, with council staff being asked to hunt them down and log their locations.
A local independent councillor branded the authority a “shambles” in the same month by highlighting how a footpath had been closed for three years after works disturbed an underground spring, reportedly sending water pouring onto a busy city centre road.
On Wednesday the council announced that it is making £13.4 million of cuts to its services, citing the cost of providing social care.
Yet council tax for a band D property in Plymouth costs locals more than £2,200 a year.
The port city will receive an additional £1.175 million this year to tackle potholes, the Government announced in December.
Plymouth city council said that DfT statistics analysed by The Telegraph “do not reflect the true situation here” and said the previous Tory administration had cut its highways budgets.
A council spokesman said: “We have done a lot of work over the last few years to improve our roads and while there is always more to do, the proportion of our classified roads needing repair is relatively low compared to the national average; 2 per cent for A roads compared to 4 per cent national average and 3 per cent instead of seven per cent national average for B and C roads.
“In addition to the above, we have been trialling the ‘Velocity’ machine, which carries out permanent, durable repairs at a fraction of the cost with no excavation, no waste and no heat involved, often with no need for road closures and repairs are ready to drive on in minutes.”