An analysis by the RAC has revealed that the amount of road being resurfaced or improved in the UK has reached its lowest point in five years.

The number of miles of road that were completely resurfaced decreased by 29% from 2017/2018 to 2021/2022, with 1588 miles done in 2017/2018 and 1123 miles done in 2021/2022.

The Department for Transport (DfT) sampled 153 road authorities and found that 31% did not carry out resurfacing works, while 51% did not carry out surface-dressing work, which extends the lifespan of a road without full resurfacing.

Surface dressing itself was also down by 34% compared to 2017/2018 levels.

Earlier this year, it was reported that compensation paid by councils for road defects could have been used to repair 340,000 potholes.

According to a survey by the 2023 Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (Alarm), local authorities in England would have needed an average of an extra £7.7 million each last year to meet their own target road conditions. It is now estimated that it would cost £14.02 billion and take 11 years to bring the network up to an efficiently maintainable standard.

The RAC’s head of policy, Simon Williams, said, “These figures paint a clear picture of the decline in the state of the country’s roads. While the government has provided more funding to fill potholes, the overall reduction in road improvement work is causing potholes to appear.”

Council areas that have resurfaced the highest proportion of their roads include Kent, which refreshed 29 miles of its 502-mile A-road network, and Southend-on-Sea in Essex, which resurfaced 21 miles. Lincolnshire carried out surface dressing on most of its A-roads, with 50 miles out of 661.