Report a pothole

We inspect the borough's adopted roadsregularly to identify defects, such as potholes, which we then risk assess and prioritise for repair.

In an emergency

If you are reporting an emergency that is likely to present an imminent threat to life, serious injury or serious damage to property, please call us on:

How to report a pothole

Complete our online form to report a pothole; check if a pothole has already been reported; or check the status of existing reports.

Interested party on existing problem - To log yourself as an interested party on an existing fault, select the fault and click 'Add'.

Clock Completing this form takes around 5 minutes

Paperclick You must tell us:

  • Street name or postcode near the location of the pothole.
  • Number of potholes at the location.
  • As much detail as you can about the damage.
  • A description of the exact location, for example:
    • Is it outside, or between certain house numbers?
    • Name of a business where it's located.
    • Number of streetlamps it's near or between.
    • Is it at a road junction or, between multiple junctions?

You can also upload a photo of the pothole. The more detail you have the better.

Map navigation

You will need to show us on a map where the pothole is. You can do this by dropping a 'pin' on the map.

  • On a touch screen device, pinch to zoom in and out.
  • On a desktop device:
    • click and drag to pan around the map area.
    • To zoom, you can either use the mouse wheel; hold down shift and click and drag a box; or use the zoom button on the toolbar.
  • The map also allows you to search by place name, road, postcode or address.
Report a pothole

After you have reported it

We are unable to respond to a request unless you provide an email address.

If you provide your email address, you will:

  • Receive confirmation of your report by email.
  • Receive an update with the report outcome once an action has been taken.
  • Alternatively, you can make a request using your MyKirklees account and a record of your report will be saved in your account history. If you don't already have a MyKirklees account, you can register online.

What we'll do

We investigate all reported potholes if the required information has been submitted.

For a pothole to be fixed, it has to be an 'actionable defect', which is in line with defined guidelines.

How quickly we repair them depends on how the pothole is categorised. We have to take into account:

  • Location of the pothole.
  • Depth and size of the pothole.
  • Type of road the pothole is on.
  • Potential risk to pedestrians and motorists.

Depending on the severity of the pothole, a risk assessment will be undertaken in accordance with our risk-based approach to road maintenance:

  • If the pothole meets our emergency criteria, we aim to make a temporary repair to make it safe, within 24 hours. This will be followed up with a permanent repair, if required, at a later date.
  • We aim to repair larger defects within 7 days.
  • If it is not considered an emergency, work will be done within 28 days.

The majority of reported potholes fall into the non-urgent category and will be scheduled for repair as part of our planned maintenance programme.

If we're unable to locate the pothole when we make a site visit, and we don't have your contact details, we will close the report.

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Areas we are not responsible for

Areas we are not responsible for repairing potholes:

Highways defects we are not responsible for

  • Fire hydrants, manholes and valve boxes
  • Utility cabinets or telecommunications street furniture
  • Bus shelters
  • Boundary walls around private houses or private land
  • Cellar head coverings.

If you report an issue which is not the council's responsibility, we will either direct you to the owner or contact them on your behalf depending on the issue. They will be expected to deal with the issue in an appropriate timescale.

Surface erosion, cracking, and crazing

Surface erosion, cracking and crazing do not meet our maintenance strategy for repair and are not regarded as a danger to users of the highway network.

Our engineers monitor all locations on our scheduled highway safety inspections and programme necessary repairs.

About potholes

Water seeping into the cracks in road surfaces creates potholes. Water soaks into the roadbed that sits beneath the surface causing saturation. The issues can be made worse when moving traffic pushes water through causing the surface to weaken. Parts of the asphalt may then begin to sink, and as vehicles pass over the weakened area, some of the asphalt can become loose and a pothole is formed.

Scheduled maintenance

A team of trained and accredited highways engineers carry out regular scheduled safety inspections across its highways network.

Inspections take place in cycles - monthly, three monthly, six monthly and twelve-monthly - it depends on the road.

We all notice imperfections on the roads, but our engineers prioritise repairs for defects, that present a danger to highway users.

Defects can appear or develop further between scheduled inspections, so we encourage you to report these.

Find out more about how often we carry out our inspections in our Safety Inspection Manual 2018.

How we repair potholes

  • Remove debris and water from the pothole.
  • Cut clean edges around the pothole, making a square hole ready for new material to bond to when compacted.
  • Bond new material to the square hole.
  • Compact the material into the square hole, with machinery, to ensure it's level with the existing road surface.

Why we cannot just resurface the road

Potholes form from general wear and tear of roads, compounded by level of traffic and the effects of weather. Simply resurfacing a road would not prevent potholes forming.

Each pothole is assessed on a case-by-case basis, with repairs completed accordingly.

To gain insight into the approach we take, take a look at our Highways Asset Management Strategy.

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