Potholes are one of those problems everyone grumbles about and hardly anyone reports. Which is a shame, because reporting one takes about as long as making a cup of tea — and it puts you in a position to watch what happens next.

The details differ slightly from one council to another, but the shape of the process is the same across the country. You tell the highways team what the defect is and where it is, you get a reference number, and you follow it. Here's how to do that without wasting an afternoon.

What actually counts as a pothole

A pothole is a hole where the road surface has broken up and the material underneath has been exposed or washed away. Freeze-thaw cycles do most of the damage: water gets into a crack, expands overnight, and takes a lump of tarmac with it. That's why so many new defects appear after a cold snap.

Not every defect is treated with the same urgency. Many councils work to a depth threshold, often somewhere around 40mm, and then weigh up how much danger the hole poses. A deep one on a bend near a school will be picked up faster than a shallow one at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac. The criteria and the target repair times are published on your council's website, and they're worth reading if you want to know what to expect.

It's also worth reporting the things that aren't holes but cause just as much grief: a missing drain cover, a sunken manhole frame, a broken kerb, a blocked gully that floods the pavement every time it rains, or vegetation hiding a sign. The same form usually covers all of them.

Before you report: a two-minute check

• Look for an existing report. Plenty of councils publish an online map of reported defects. If yours is already on it, you can still add your own report — especially if the hole has got worse.
• Check FixMyStreet. The site shows what has already been reported locally, sometimes with a photograph. Knowing the history helps you chase the right thing.
• Check whose road it is. Not every road belongs to the council. Private and unadopted roads, supermarket car parks and some service roads usually fall to the landowner instead. If you're unsure, ring the council and ask.

How to report a pothole to the council

1. Find the right form. Search for "[your council] report a pothole". Highways sit with the county or unitary council, not the parish council — a parish council can raise an issue on your behalf, but it can't order a repair.
2. Give an exact location. Road name, nearest house number or landmark, direction of travel and which side of the road. "Outside 14 Mill Lane, heading towards the village, left-hand side" is far more use than "somewhere on Mill Lane".
3. Describe the defect. Rough size helps: "about the size of a dinner plate and several centimetres deep" tells an inspector something. Say whether it's getting worse, and whether water sits in it.
4. Add photographs if the form allows. One wide shot with a road sign or recognisable building in frame, and one close-up with something for scale — a coin, a tape measure, the toe of your boot. Don't stand in the carriageway to get the shot.
5. Leave your contact details and keep the reference number. Screenshot it, or forward the confirmation email to yourself.
6. Write the date down. If you end up chasing the repair weeks later, that date is what starts the clock.

FixMyStreet: a useful second pair of eyes

FixMyStreet is a free, independent service run by the charity mySociety. You drop a pin on a map, describe the problem, and it passes the report to the council responsible. Every report is public, so you can see whether your neighbours have flagged the same stretch of road, and the site will chase the council if nothing happens after a set period.

One caveat: it isn't the council's own system, so any reference number you get from it won't match the council's. If you want a formal record you can follow through the council's complaints process, report through the council as well.

How to track the repair online

• The council's reporting portal. Most let you enter your reference number and see a status: reported, inspected, programmed or completed. Some add a photograph of the finished work.
• Target timescales. The council should publish how long it aims to take for each category of defect. If yours is a scheduled works job rather than an urgent one, a wait is normal.
• Roadworks maps. Many councils feed planned works into public roadworks maps, which can show whether your road is already due for resurfacing — in which case a full repair may come with it.
• FixMyStreet updates. If you reported through the site, you'll get an email when the status changes.
• Your own notes. One line per contact — date, who you spoke to, what was promised — is enough, and it's surprisingly powerful when you need to escalate.

If a status says "no action required", the council should explain why, usually that the defect didn't meet its intervention criteria. That can be a legitimate answer, but you're entitled to ask when the road was last inspected and what those criteria are.

When nothing happens

Give the council its published target before you chase. After that, work upwards:

• Ring or email the highways team and quote your reference.
• Contact your ward councillor. A question from an elected member tends to get a reply.
• Use the council's formal complaints process if the target has been missed without explanation.
• Take it to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman if the council's handling of the complaint is itself the problem. It will usually expect you to finish the council's own process first.

If a defect is genuinely dangerous — a missing cover, or a deep hole on a busy junction or a route children use to walk to school — don't wait for a web form. Ring the council's emergency or out-of-hours number and say clearly what the risk is.

If a pothole has damaged your car or bike

Take photographs before you move anything: the pothole, the damage, the position of your vehicle, and the road name. Note the time and date. Keep any repair invoice, and if you were injured, get medical attention and keep a record of it.

Every highways authority has a claims process, usually set out on its website. Be aware of how these claims work: councils are required to maintain the roads, but they can defend a claim by showing they had a proper inspection regime and no knowledge of the defect. The outcome often turns on how long the hole had been there and whether it had already been reported. Time limits apply and the detail matters, so if the cost or the injury is significant, take legal advice rather than relying on a forum thread.

A five-minute habit worth keeping

Reporting a pothole doesn't fix it, but it starts a paper trail the council has to answer. Do it once, keep the reference, and check back

Photo: Miriam Espacio / Pexels