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How to report a pothole or road defect in Devon

Over the winter, heavy rain and freezing spells have caused a significant rise in pothole numbers in Devon. Our inspection and repair teams are working very hard to tackle these numbers. Since January we have identified and repaired about 15,000 potholes.

Our Highway Safety Policy sets out the criteria we use to identify which potholes pose the highest risk to road users. Please help us focus on the most dangerous potholes by only reporting potholes that meet our criteria.

When you make a report, a symbol on our map will show you if your issue has been reported already. You can help us by only reporting potholes which have not been reported already.

If everyone did this, our data shows that we would see a 70% reduction in the number of reports we receive. This reduction is equivalent to 39,900 reports based on last year’s total. With your support we can work more efficiently and deal with safety issues faster. 

Each report we receive is assessed onsite by a trained highway safety inspector. We do not ignore any reports that we receive, however, we do have to prioritise our funding as we cannot afford to fix all of the problems that are reported to us.

We prioritise repairing potholes, on roads, that have a 40 mm (4 cm) vertical edge and are 300 mm (30 cm) wide as these are the biggest risk to highway users.

All reports should be assessed onsite within seven calendar days. Following the assessment, repairs will be carried out by the end of the next working day, seven or 28 calendar days (depending on the outcome of the assessment) if confirmed as a priority pothole.

We will repair smaller potholes, and other road surface issues, as and when resources are available and as part of our planned works programmes.

2 twenty pence coins demonstrating a height of 40mm and a ruler demonstrating a width of 300 millimetres

Please see the images below which illustrate a pothole with a vertical edge:

A diagram illustrating when a pothole will be classed as an actionable defect.
A diagram illustrating when a pothole will not be classed as an actionable defect.

You can find out more about our pothole criteria in our safety inspection policy.

Before you start

If you are reporting an emergency that is very likely to present an imminent threat to life or serious injury or serious property damage please instead call us on 0345 155 1004.


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