HAMPSHIRE is the second worst place in the country for the number of potholes reported, research shows.

According to Fill That Hole, Hampshire has had 6,112 reports from 2007 to 2022. This is behind Surrey who have 10,310 reports in the same time period.

Of the total number of reports in Hampshire, only 16 per cent of them have been fixed, meaning there are 5,064 cases currently open and are waiting to be fixed by Hampshire County Council. Surrey has 8,843 open reports.

Third in the list is Kent with 4,152 open cases total reports, fourth: Herefordshire with 3,803, fifth: Essex with 3,799, sixth: Lancashire with 3,677, seventh: Devon with 3,553, eighth: Cheshire East with 3,154, ninth: Buckinghamshire with 3,104 and tenth: Oxfordshire with 3,061.

While complaints are regularly logged and data can be viewed as far back as 2007, the Gazette has looked at the reports of hazards in the last three months to see exactly which roads in Basingstoke and the surrounding area have issues.

Churchill Way Westbound

The report from January 25 said there was a sunken manhole cover approximately three-quarters of the way through the tunnel “in a perfect position to hit the right wheels of a car”.

Penrith Road

A pothole around 40cm in diameter was reported on January 25. The person who registered it said it was a “nasty pothole near road centre. Large loose stones at its base.”

Foyle Park

A report of the pothole was made on January 5 and was said to be 30cm in diameter.

Vyne Road

On January 5 a report was made of a pothole redeveloping after the surface was poorly restored following roadworks.

Monk Sherborne Road

The report from December 3 said there was a dropped manhole cover, with the person who reported it saying that it “bent the front wheel of my bike, and really bent the rear wheel including a broken spoke”.

They said it was around 40cm in diameter.

Brimpton Road

The report from November 25 said: “The road surface is littered with sunken drain covers, uneven surface, potholes, ruts and gullies, and plenty of hazards to navigate on a bicycle. I suspect a fair amount of it may be from previous roadworks where the surface has dropped in many places.”

Alton Road

There was a report made of a pothole along this stretch of road on November 15 which was said to be “deepening”.

Other potholes were reported but precise locations were not given.

Recent figures said that around one in every 20 miles of main road in Hampshire needs repairing.

The AA said England’s roads are stuck in a rut with motorists facing a “plethora of potholes” on their journeys.

Figures from the Department for Transport (DfT) show five per cent of A roads in Hampshire were put in this worst category – up from four per cent in 2019-20. And five per cent of B and C roads were also in need of work.

The organisation’s head of roads policy, Jack Cousens, said: “While the Government claims road conditions are ‘stable’, the harsh reality is that they are stuck in a rut.

“Road users don’t have to travel too far from home to see a plethora of potholes, fractured tarmac, worn away surfaces and faded road markings which make driving and cycling uncomfortable at best and dangerous at worst.”

A DfT spokesman said: “The Government is investing over £5 billion in roads maintenance over this Parliament, enough to fill in millions of potholes a year, repair dozens of bridges, and help resurface roads up and down the country.”