Sheffield roads: Over 2,800 potholes in need of repair as Amey highlights top 10 ranking
Sheffield had 2,864 potholes in need of repair at the beginning of 2025, new figures show.
The figure was obtained by Accident Claims Advice and confirmed by Sheffield City Council. It pre-dates a week of ice and snow in January which further damaged roads.
The authority also revealed that drivers had submitted 313 legal claims in the last three years and it had settled 103, paying out £39,240 in compensation.
Beverly Faulkner, of Accident Claims Advice, said: “Councils and local authorities have a duty of care to ensure the safety of people using public spaces, such as parks, highways and footpaths.
“A crucial part of this is making sure the land under their control is properly maintained. Failing to do this can put people at risk.”
In January, Councillor Barbara Masters highlighted damage to Greystones Road after a week of snow and ice.
At the time, Amey, the city council’s private sector partner, said it would fix it within 28 days, which was the end of February.
Last week it said it would now be repaired as part of a “wider resurfacing programme” but did not give a start date.
It is unclear whether the company incurs a penalty for missing the 28-day deadline.
A Sheffield City Council spokesperson said the strategic approach to highways management was developed using the highways infrastructure code which recommends that all highways authorities use a risk-based approach to managing defects on the network.
Information about categories of defect and how to report potholes can be found on the city council’s website: How we repair potholes and how to report an issue.
The spokesperson also said Sheffield’s road network ranks in the top 10 in the country for condition based on surveys of road users undertaken by the National Highway and Transport survey.
Only one per cent of its ‘A’ road network and three per cent of its ‘B’ and ‘C’ road network is identified as requiring maintenance, they added. The data is freely available on the DfT website as all authorities are obligated to supply the DfT with this data.
There is an on-going, rolling programme of repairs, they added.
In December, Sheffield City Council announced the city would miss out on a share of £6.7m government cash for pothole repairs allocated to South Yorkshire because of the contract with Amey.
A spokesman for the city council explained the council's Streets Ahead highways maintenance contract was being delivered by Amey through a private finance initiative deal.
He added that, because Sheffield’s public roads are maintained under a PFI deal for maintenance activities, "the council therefore does not qualify for additional funding from central government."