The cold winter months have been blamed for potholes around Bucks.

Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC) said this winter’s weather has been “tough” on the roads, adding that the worst conditions are when the ground temperature fluctuates constantly between just above and just below zero.

The council has claimed that pothole formation is “accelerated” by the “freeze-thaw” effect, where moisture gets into small cracks in the road surface and expands when it freezes, then thaws out when the temperature rises, eventually causing the road surface to break up and form potholes.

BCC’s cabinet member for transportation, Mark Shaw, is urging road users in Bucks to report potholes when they see them, saying: “Transport for Buckinghamshire will investigate every pothole reported to them, and react on a risk based prioritisation process – put simply, that means the worst ones will be attended to first, as a matter of urgency.

“But we’re not mind readers, and the road network is far too vast for us to possibly know where all the potholes are, so we need members of the public to report them to us either using the online form, which only takes a few minutes, or by calling if it’s dangerous or an emergency.

“I would ask that everyone be patient while we deal with the fallout of a bad winter – potholes are as inevitable as weather, roads are made of a porous material so that they don’t flood constantly in rain and so when water within the structure freezes, defects will form.

“On average, when there are no severe weather issues, TfB repairs over 4,000 potholes every month.”

To report a pothole, visit www.buckscc.gov.uk/services/transport-and-roads/report-a-problem/report-a-pothole.