Oxfordshire council steps up its pothole repair programme

The work follows a winter which saw what the council describes as an “unprecedented” rise in pothole reports both nationally and in Oxfordshire, putting extra pressure on its 4,500km road network.

While it accepts reactive repairs are still essential, especially where defects pose an immediate danger, the council says its focus is shifting towards longer‑term, more cost‑effective maintenance.

The current programme includes an £8m surface dressing scheme expected to improve around 1m sqm of carriageway, with further projects planned later in the summer.

The council says it is using specialist repair teams, dragon patcher spray‑injection machines and bobcat patching equipment to tackle damaged sections and prepare roads for these treatments.

Potholes reported to the council around Bicester (Image: FixMyStreet)

Alongside that, work has already started on the council’s inlay resurfacing programme, which will run until October and see 33 roads repaired, covering more than 85,000sqm of carriageway.

This deeper resurfacing removes worn‑out layers of tarmac before laying a new surface, offering a more durable fix than patching individual potholes.

READ MORE: Oxfordshire potholes backlog runs into the thousands

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander (Image: Yui Mok/PA)

National funding pressures add another layer of scrutiny as English councils risk losing up to a third of their funding to fix potholes if they fail to demonstrate they are working effectively, under the Department for Transport’s April announcement.

Some £525 million of the £1.6 billion funding for local roads maintenance in the 2026/27 financial year will be held back unless authorities can prove they are spending the money appropriately.

READ MORE: Potholes cost Oxford taxi firm more than £240,000 a year

The renewed focus on Oxfordshire’s roads comes as Oxford firm 001 Taxis told the Oxford Mail it is spending more than £240,000 a year on wear‑and‑tear repairs blamed on potholes, saying the state of the roads is leaving its business “struggling”.

Since January, the county council has increased the number of pothole repair crews from seven to up to 25 in an attempt to cut the backlog.

It says it aims to repair potholes within two hours, 24 hours or 28 days depending on size, location and risk, but some 28‑day jobs have slipped because of the surge in reports.

In 2025/26, the council says it spent £69m on highways maintenance and repaired 37,000 potholes and carriageway defects, with the budget set to rise to £73m in 2026/27.

Over the same period, it received 4,095 claims for pothole‑related damage and settled about 25 per cent of them, paying out more than £275,000 in compensation.

The council says those figures relate to when claims were logged or settled, not necessarily when incidents took place.