Swansea pothole numbers 'soar' in the last year
The council received 5,455 pothole reports in 2025-26 compared to 3,580 the year previously
Reports of potholes soared in Swansea in 2025-26, and work by the council to repair them accelerated rapidly.
The number of damage insurance claims also shot up.
The council received 5,455 pothole reports in 2025-26 compared to 3,580 the year previously. It repaired 6,322 potholes, considerably more than the 3,678 repaired a year before.
The figures were given in response to a Freedom of Information request by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
It also emerged that the authority paid out £45,557 for three damage-related and two injury-related pothole insurance claims, but this was a lot less than the £65,618 paid out in 2024-25 for four damage-related and four injury-related claims.
In 2025-26 there were 186 damage claims and 23 injury claims submitted, compared to 92 and 27 respectively in the previous 12 months.
Potholes can affect a vehicle’s suspension and damage tyres
A member of staff at repair and servicing garage Jamie Short Ltd, Llansamlet, said: “For a few years now we’ve seen a lot of cars coming in with snapped coil springs. Nine times out of ten it’s pothole-related.”
Debris from potholes, he said, could also fly up into wheel arches and damage break pipes. He advised drivers not to ignore signs of damage and to get their vehicle checked out.
Age, wear and tear and corrosion also affect car parts. Waleed Kamel, of Western Street Motors, Sandfields, said it was hard to link potholes definitively with damage.
“The only way of determining it would be for a car to drive 1,000 miles on a road without any potholes and then 1,000 miles on a road with potholes,” he said.
Mr Kamel said some motorists tried to “ride out” damage. “MoTs are very strict, so if you have damage you’re going to have to fix it whether you like it or not,” he said.
The council is responsible for nearly 700 miles of road as well as 200-plus bridges, more than 900 miles of pavement and 40,000 gullies.
Many of its roads were not designed to accommodate current traffic levels, modern commercial vehicles or heavier electric cars, according to its 10-year highway asset management plan.
Roads deteriorate during freeze-thaw cycles when surface water freezes, expands and thaws again
The council is allocating more than £12 million on road, pavement, bridge, gully and drain work in 2026-27, around £9 million of which will be for road resurfacing and potholes.
Some further top-up funding is possible but there is a limit on how much work can be done based on the number of staff available.
A council spokesman said keeping motorists safe on Swansea’s roads was a key priority
“That is why we continue to invest record levels of funding in highway maintenance, operate our 48-hour pothole repair pledge for the most serious defects, and carry out regular inspections so issues can be identified and addressed quickly,” he said.
“The very low number of successful insurance claims linked to potholes and other highway defects reflects the strength of this approach and our ongoing commitment to maintaining safer roads for everyone.”
Jordan Mitchell, of Birchgrove, Swansea, said he felt the pothole situation was “absolutely awful” although he acknowledged the large number of cars on the road nowadays. He felt more money should be spent on roads and said trying to avoid potholes was a problem. “It’s hazardous,” he said.
Contractor Ethan Edwards said: “I live in the Valleys and they (potholes) are terrible up there. One of the them cracked a £1,000 wheel on my car. Where is our road tax going?”