Mr. Pothole stands next to the crater and shakes his head.
This indomitable figure holds a tape measure engraved with the legend “Best Ever Grandad” in one hand and in the other he wields a 50-inch spirit level, a weapon he nicknames “my sword of truth.”
Crouching over the pothole, he takes meticulous length and width measurements before balancing the spirit level over the rut to record its depth. After jotting down these vital statistics, he pulls out a smartphone to take photos like he’s a forensic science expert at a grisly crime scene.
“The secret to success is being a pain in the ass,” says Pothole, whose real name is Mark Morrell.
The 63-year-old retired gas engineer, who lives in Brackley, Northamptonshire, has earned the nickname Britain’s most successful pothole fixer – having plugged 10,000 in the last decade.
Mark Morrell, aka Mr Pothole, measures a deep pothole with the Mail’s Toby Walne
And he agreed to share his best advice with me, both for getting his council to fix the potholes and for compensation.
He says: ‘Start by recording the details of a pothole, so always carry measuring tools in the car. But to win the fight for justice you have to be tenacious and understand the council’s reparations policy.’
Typically, a hole should be at least the depth of a golf ball to be repaired: 4 cm. But councils confuse the situation by offering different measurements for what constitutes a pothole, with some dictating at least 5cm and 30cm wide.
The crater we have assessed is located on the outskirts of Marston St Lawrence, a Northamptonshire village and home to Geri Halliwell and her husband, Formula One boss Christian Horner. We are four miles northwest of your home town, Brackley.
Morrell is also a former city mayor and tells me: “We have fewer potholes than any other city in Britain because I never let my council get away with it.”
At 12cm deep, 18cm wide and 260cm long, our crater could cause serious damage to a car.
He says: ‘I will report this pothole immediately. But at the same time I have to check the so-called “intervention criteria” of the local authority: how often the municipality monitors a stretch of road and when it should be repaired after a pothole.
Mr Pothole once drove an orange tank into Parliament to protest the quality of our roads.
“Often you have to be a detective and file a Freedom of Information request to hide this information if they won’t tell you or it can’t be found on the council website.”
Under section 41 of the Highways Act 1980, highways agencies and local authorities must ensure that roads “are maintained in such a state as to be reasonably passable… without danger caused by their physical condition.” This includes dangerous potholes.
But in Section 58 of this same law, authorities try to avoid paying for repairs or costs if your car is damaged by claiming that they have taken reasonable steps to check the roads for potholes.
Councils often hide behind the excuse of taking up to 26 weeks from a report to repair. But if they don’t provide evidence that they carry out proper road inspections in the first place (once a week on highways and once a year on secondary roads), they have a case to answer. Morrell says: ‘Of course, it’s not just about road safety, it’s also about the cost to the motorist.
«Therefore, when you go to the shop for repairs, make sure that the mechanic notes in writing that the damage was caused by the pothole. Deliver this itemized and dated invoice to the council.
Potholes are caused by water seeping into the road surface and then freezing in gaps, causing the expanding ice to further break up the asphalt. On dark, wet roads, after dark, craters often disguise themselves as puddles.
Potholes are also causing traffic chaos. Two weeks ago, a “huge” pothole paralyzed 20 cars on the M4 motorway, while last week another crater caused carnage on the M25, wiping out 58 cars and leaving drivers stranded for hours.
Morrell is also a former city mayor and tells me: “We have fewer potholes than any other city in Britain because I never let my council get away with it.”
There are now more than 1 million such potholes across Britain, costing the economy £14.4 billion a year in traffic problems and vehicle and road repairs, according to the Center for Business and Economic Research.
Simon Williams, of the RAC motoring organisation, says repairing pothole damage to cars usually costs £460. He says: “At this time of year calls increase for broken shock absorbers, suspension springs, damaged alloy wheels and, of course, punctured tyres.”
The number of calls to the RAC due to pothole damage (not including flat tyres) increased by a third to almost 30,000 in 2023 compared to the previous year. The automobile organization fears that the figure could increase even more this winter.
Morrell says: ‘Lack of funding is a common excuse used by councils, but there is also a clear lack of common sense. The crater we measured had markings around it by the council three months ago, but nothing was done. Many gaps could be filled when reported.’
Adding to the arsenal of getting councils to patch holes, Morrell is encouraging motorists to also sign up to a free smartphone app called Stan (Safer Travel Around Neighbourhoods). This provides details of defects on the roads. One-seventh of the country has been mapped using this app so far, but motorists can help by signing up for Stan, placing their phone on the windshield to face the road, and recording a video of the trip to download to the app.
Morrell hopes that if enough information is provided, local authorities will soon be forced to take note of the findings and fill in more gaps.
Research by comparison website Confused.com has found that motorists made 4.4 million complaints to councils for pothole-related incidents last year, up 6 per cent on 2020.
But local authorities are increasingly stingy when it comes to paying compensation. They handed out £3.3 million in 2023, less than the £3.8 million paid in 2020.
Mr. Pothole’s Guide to Winning Compensation:
- Take close-up photos of the pothole with a tape measure, including road position, signs, and car damage. Take note of the time, weather and traffic conditions. A sketch of the area or a downloaded map also helps.
- Find out who is responsible. National Highways is the answer for motorways and major arterial ‘A’ roads in England and Wales. Map details are available at nationalhighways.co.uk. In Scotland, it’s Traffic Scotland. For smaller “A” roads and lanes, it’s your town hall. Ask them to submit a claim form or download one from their website.
- Have a local mechanic put in writing that he believes the damage was caused by a pothole and include it with any repair bills that should be itemized and dated.
- If a claim is denied, don’t give up. Under section 41 of the Highways Act 1980, highways agencies and local authorities must ensure that roads are in good repair. According to article 58 of this law, the authorities try to avoid payment by claiming that they have taken reasonable measures to check that the roads are free of potholes. The best way to address this is to prove that a road is not properly maintained. If the council does not respond, submit a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. Require an inspection record to show how well the road is maintained, exactly how it is inspected, and the repair policy.
- Analyze the FOI response with a magnifying glass. Were the inspections carried out on foot or by van, at what speed were they traveling and how often were patrols carried out? If a pothole was already reported, how does the authority categorize it as a risk, how long did it take to fix it, why was the repair not made? Check this against your own inspection policy. If there are discrepancies, you have a case.
- If you have gone through this entire process and the claim is still denied, consider going to small claims court. But note that it initially costs you £50 to claim £500.
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