Nottinghamshire road inspectors have urged the public to “stop and talk” instead of shouting abuse at staff after a rise in incidents linked to frustration over potholes.
Via East Midlands, which maintains the county’s roads and pavements, says it has noticed more and more abuse is being levelled at workers while they assess damaged roads.
It says this coincides with a surge in new pothole reports caused by recent bad winter weather.
The contractor repairs roads on behalf of Nottinghamshire County Council and oversees almost 3,000 miles of carriageways.
However, inspectors say they are now regularly receiving abuse and hostile behaviour from some members of the public when investigating or repairing potholes when previous incidents were rare.
They have urged residents to instead speak with them about the work they provide and say their priority is keeping the public safe.
“I’d ask the public to bear with our staff, they are there to make the roads safe,” says Wayne Prince, Via’s highways inspection and risk manager.
“Stop and talk to them, they’re happy to chat – but please be polite.
“They’re looking at defects in the highway that could cause you harm and they’re here to help.”
Via’s inspectors are alerted to road damage through reports from residents or during annual road inspections, which are held on all Nottinghamshire roads.
If they find a potential “safety defect”, a temporary ‘spot repair’ is planned within 24 hours.
This may include loose debris in the pothole, its location or depth and is also based on the road’s usage.
The road is then reported to other departments to assess whether it could benefit from future resurfacing works.
If this is the case, they are added to a long-term programme – with early inspections helping to “build a picture” of each road.
Communication to communities about when roads in each area will be repaired is also due to improve, Via says.
However, inspectors say recent weather caused a noticeable rise in the number of incidents they are attending.
A ‘cold snap’ in December led to a ‘freeze-thaw’ effect, causing existing cracks in roads to worsen.
Heavy rainfall throughout December and into January damaged roads further and led to more potholes appearing – sometimes overnight.
Last month, the council revealed pothole reports doubled in the three months to January, though no specific figures were provided.
However, Tony Green, a senior highways inspector, says this winter was worse than any in his memory.
“This year has been a massive increase, it’s been phenomenal the number of reports coming in,” he said.
“The roads seemed to struggle and potholes were blowing out a lot more, so the winter has hit us hard … more so than any other year I can remember.
“But we’ve we’ve coped and brought in more resources to deal with that and kept on top of it.”
Mr Green, who describes his team as the “first aiders of the roads”, inspected a new pothole in Eaton Avenue, Arnold, on Tuesday (February 28).
This was one of the dozens of new reports the team’s 17 inspectors investigate each day, with Mr Green saying they can walk up to five miles daily.
His role is to assess the extent of the damage and log this information for other departments.
He found the pothole was a ‘category one’ defect, meaning it needed immediate repair to prevent further damage.
The road will now be assessed to determine potential future resurfacing.
“We’re just trying to keep everything safe and we want members of the public to understand we are there for them,” he adds.
And Councillor Neil Clarke (Con), cabinet member for transport and environment, said: “I do ask the public to please be kind to them.
“They’re working on your behalf to make roads safer.
“Whilst it may be frustrating and there’s room for improvement, they’re doing what they can to help.”
The authority conducted a cross-party review in 2021 to improve its road maintenance.
This concluded the council and Via should shift from temporary fixes towards permanent road replacements.
Before recent bad weather, temporary repairs fell by 61 per cent while the length of roads resurfaced by new patching gangs more than doubled.
However, inspectors say emergency repairs will always be needed in cases like Eaton Avenue where damage is ‘significant’.
• Pictures: West Bridgford Road with potholes a danger to cyclists
• Potholes: Find out how many repairs over 5 years in your Nottinghamshire ward area
