Amey pothole bosses reveal number of complaints over state of Sheffield roads
“The roads in Sheffield are significantly better than the vast majority of local authorities in the UK”
Fewer than two per cent of enquiries to Sheffield’s pothole repair company are complaints, bosses say.
Amey chiefs said just 1.18 per cent of enquiries in July were from people unhappy about the roads.
And with just two potholes per mile in the city - compared to six nationally - they were among the best in the country, he said.
The figures were revealed at an extraordinary meeting of Sheffield Council’s environmental services and regulation committee at Sheffield Town Hall last week.
Chair Mark Rusling said the meeting was called due to “significant concerns” about the state of the roads.
The meeting saw the launch of a 14 point pothole plan.
It has four points about how the company will improve repairs and 10 points on communicating, rebuilding confidence, improving customer experience and trust.
Amey is half way through a 25-year £2.2bn contract with Sheffield City Council that runs until 2037.
Peter Bamfield, Amey business director, said: “The roads in Sheffield are significantly better than the vast majority of local authorities in the UK.”
The company’s claims appear to be widely disputed by Star readers and some councillors.
In Nether Edge, Coun Maroof Raouf called for the firm to be fined for failing to resurface Osborne Road after putting out signs announcing a start date.
Sheffield resident Gerard Hermitage said: “Can anybody confirm where any repairs have actually been done, as I’ve not seen any?
“Bolehill Road has been marked with yellow paint twice and for the second time, the yellow paint is wearing off - third time lucky perhaps?”
Fellow Sheffielder Keith Kendall said: “That's nothing, in S10 we have got some proper potholes.”
And Kim Coldwell added: “On our road in Meersbrook they did a similar thing, hanging notices on the lampposts informing us of road closures and threats of towed vehicles.
“The start dates kept coming and going. They actually had a guy coming around in the middle of the night erasing the dates on the signs and putting new ones on.”
Don Dix said: “Same on Barnsley Road and Bellhouse Road. Still no show.”
Sheffield City Council monitors Amey’s performance and has the power to fine the company for poor performance.
In June the authority revealed it had fined it eight times at that point this year and not at all in 2025 or 2024.
Report a pothole here: https://forms.sheffield.gov.uk/site/portal/form/report_pothole_crack