THE number of Hertfordshire potholes reported last month was higher than usual, with a council receiving 5,000 complaints of damages to the roads.

The provisional figures, which work out at more than 160 problems a day or one every ten minutes, were revealed in a Hertfordshire County Council report.

The number of faults were higher than the average for January, although they were down on the previous year.

But by the end of the month, 30 per cent of these had not been repaired, leaving around 1,500 reported potholes not dealt with.

A county council spokesman said that these were mostly on roads with not much traffic, and that they would be repaired in due course.

“Damage to the roads during wintry weather is caused by rain water and thawing snow seeping into small cracks in the road,” said the spokesman.

“As temperatures dip, the water freezes and expands, enlarging the cracks. This causes cracks and potholes to appear, overnight in some cases, even in roads that otherwise appear sound.

“If a pothole or any other fault has appeared in your road due to the wintry weather, please visit our website at www.hertsdirect.org/highwayfaults where you can report the fault using a convenient online form and map. Alternatively, you can call us on 0300 123 4047.”

It has also been revealed that works on road maintenance- which do not cover pothole repairs- has been delayed, with �1 million of schemes unlikely to be completed this financial year, even on the assumption that the weather is reasonable between now and April.

The 2010/11 Integrated Works Programme had to be adjusted several times over the year to accommodate funding changes and insertion of repairs to roads damaged in last year’s wintry weather.

- Do you think the potholes in Comet country are particularly bad, or have you suffered problems first hand with poorly maintained roads? Get in contact or send us your pictures by emailing laura.burge@thecomet.net