New data from the AA reveals that 1,700 drivers a day in the UK still have their vehicles damaged by road defects.

The cost of pothole damage is also increasing, with repairs now averaging £300 per car.

The Pothole Partnership, which includes the AA, British Cycling, JCB, and the National Motorcyclists Council, is calling on local councils to adopt smarter repair strategies.

They are urging authorities to switch from expensive temporary manual repairs to permanent automated solutions that are faster and more cost-effective.

Local authorities in the UK have been found to have 78 different ways of measuring the effectiveness of their pothole repairs, with some councils not measuring the longevity of their fixes at all. This has led to disparities between local authorities in terms of the quality and durability of their repairs.

In light of this, a partnership is calling for councils to establish a single metric to measure and fix potholes across the country.

National Pothole Day on January 15th aims to raise awareness of this issue.