This page outlines the type of faults and issues that are reported across our Highways network. It details intervention levels and target response times.
Reporting and inspections
We regularly inspect the roads, footways and cycleways we are responsible for. Our inspections help us identify safety defects, but we also rely on residents and other highway users to report problems.
How are faults reported and tracked
You can use our online highways reporting tool to:
- report a new problem
- check whether a problem has already been reported
- view updates on a existing report.
What do we consider when inspecting a fault
Reporting a fault does not automatically mean that it will qualify for repair. We will inspect and risk assess the problem, considering:
- the type, size and severity of the defect
- its position on the road, footway or cycleway
- the amount and type of traffic using the route
- the importance of the route
- the potential consequences for highway users
- nearby crossings, schools, care facilities and other vulnerable-user locations
Target response time and related actions
If work is required, the target response time starts from the date and time the works order is raised following inspection, rather than the date the problem was first reported.
The times shown in each section on this page are target response times. Sometimes these can be delayed due to weather, road space permits, or increased reactive work.
This table shows what we will do in the target response time stated.
| Target response time category | What we will do |
|---|---|
| Emergency - up to 2 hours | Attend and make the location safe. We will complete a permanent first-time repair where it is safe and practical to do so. |
| Category 1a - up to 5 calendar days | Target for permanent repair of a higher-priority safety defect. |
| Category 1b - up to 21 calendar days | Target for permanent repair of a safety defect presenting a lower level of risk. |
| Planned preventative work - up to 13 weeks | The defect may be included in programmed work, subject to prioritisation and available budget. |
Where an emergency repair can only be temporary, the permanent repair will normally be completed within 13 weeks or incorporated into an appropriate maintenance scheme.
Road categories summary
The category of a road helps determine how frequently it is inspected and how identified defects are prioritised.
| Road category and inspection frequency | Description of road |
|---|---|
| Strategic Route - inspected every 6 weeks | Principal A roads connecting primary destinations. |
| Main Distributor - inspected every 6 weeks | Major urban routes and links between strategic routes and urban centres. |
| Secondary Distributor - inspected every 6 weeks | Mostly B and C roads and some unclassified routes carrying buses, HGVs and local traffic. |
| Link Road - inspected quarterly | Urban or rural roads linking Main and Secondary Distributor routes. |
| Local Access Road - inspected quarterly or annually | Residential streets, cul-de-sacs and rural roads mainly provide access to properties and land. |
| Soft Road or Green Lane - inspected reactively only | Unmade routes used mainly by agricultural vehicles and pedestrians. These are inspected reactively and should generally remain passable by a four-wheel-drive vehicle. |
Motorways and trunk roads are maintained by National Highways and are not covered by these standards.
Potholes and other road surface defects
For inspection purposes, the following criteria applies to all road defects including potholes that are more than 150mm by 150mm wide.
Strategic Main and Secondary Distributor roads
| Depth or severity of defect | Target response time |
|---|---|
| 75mm or deeper | Emergency attendance within 2 hours |
| 50mm to 74mm | Repair within 5 calendar days. These are marked with yellow paint. |
| 40mm to 49mm | Repair within 21 calendar days. These are marked with yellow paint. |
| 25mm to 39mm | Will be considered for planned preventative repair within 13 weeks, subject to available budget. These are marked with white paint. |
| Less than 25mm | Will be monitored as part of routine inspections unless location or other factors increase safety risks. |
Link and Local Access roads
| Depth or severity of defect | Target response time |
|---|---|
| 75mm or deeper | Emergency attendance within 2 hours |
| 40mm to 74mm | Repair within 21 calendar days. These are marked with yellow paint. |
| 25mm to 39mm | Will be considered for planned preventative repair within 13 weeks, subject to available budget. These are marked with white paint. |
| Less than 25mm | Will be monitored as part of routine inspections unless location or other factors increase safety risks. |
An inspector may apply a different response where the position, shape or surrounding circumstances make the defect more dangerous that its depth alone suggests.
Active travel locations
A reduced intervention level of 25mm and a target response of 5 calendar days applies where a road-surface defect is:
- within 3 metres of a controlled crossing
- on a recognised pedestrian desire line
- next to a traffic-calming feature where the road narrows to one running lane
- within 1.5 metres of the carriageway edge on a Category 1 active cycle route
- within a marked cycle lane
Covers and ironwork in the road
For example manhole drain and utility covers.
| Type of problem | Intervention level | Target response time |
|---|---|---|
| Missing cover | Cover is missing | 2 hours |
| Hazardous gap in the framework | 25mm horizontally or vertically | 2 hours |
| Cover sitting above or below its frame | 20mm | 21 days |
| Rocking cover | Movement of 20mm | 21 days |
At a defined active-travel or traffic-calmed location, a 20mm level difference or rocking cover will normally be repaired within 5 calendar days.
Footway and cycleway defects
You do not need to know the hierarchy category of a footway or cycleway when reporting it. The inspecting officer will identify the appropriate category.
Trip potholes and sunken covers
A trip pothole is a hole, crack or uneven surface. A sunken cover is an access point, such as manhole or drain cover, that has dropped below the level of the route.
These thresholds apply where the affected area is more than 75mm by 75mm wide.
| Footway route or cycleway category | Depth or severity of defect | Target response time |
|---|---|---|
| Highest-priority walking routes and footways - WW1 WW2 FW1 and FW2 | Assessed as an emergency | 2 hours |
| Highest-priority walking routes and footways - WW1 WW2 FW1 and FW2 | 30mm or more | 36 hours |
| Highest-priority walking routes and footways - WW1 WW2 FW1 and FW2 | 20mm or 29mm | 21 days |
| Other footways and category CY2 cycleways | Assessed as an emergency | 2 hours |
| Other footways and category CY2 cycleways | 30mm or more | 5 calendar days |
| Other footways and category CY2 cycleways | 20mm to 29mm | 21 days |
Rocking slabs or blocks with a 25mm level difference, wide and deep open joints, and depressions more than 25mm deep and 600mm wide will receive a risk-assessed response, normally within 36 hours or 21 days depending on the risk identified.
If a temporary asphalt repair is made in a conservation area, city or market town where the existing surface uses another material, we aim to reinstate the original type of surface within 13 weeks.
Covers and ironwork on footways and cycleways
For example manhole drain and utility covers.
| Type of problem | Intervention level | Target response time |
|---|---|---|
| Missing or damaged cover | Present | 2 hours |
| Hazardous gap in the framework | 25mm horizontally or vertically | 2 hours |
| Cover sitting above or below its frame | 20mm | 2 hours |
| Rocking cover | Movement of 20mm | 2 hours |
| Worn or polished cover | Assessed according to risk | 5 or 21 days depending on risk assessment |
Flooding
We will investigate standing water that remains two hours after rainfall has stopped and prevents the free flow of traffic.
Where flooding causes a safety concern or network restriction, particularly where more than 1.5 metres of a running lane is blocked, we will raise an emergency order and respond within 2 hours. Our initial response may involve warning signs, traffic management or other action to make the location safe.
The emergency response does not necessarily mean that the underlying cause of the flooding can be permanently repaired within 2 hours.
To report a flood and find out who is responsible for types of flooding, please visit report a flood.
Drainage
| Drainage problem | Target response time |
|---|---|
| Blocked gully causing a network restriction, safety concern, or risk to property | Emergency response within 2 hours |
| Blocked gully not assessed as an emergency | 21 days |
| Collapsed, blocked, or settled drain causing a network restriction, or safety concern | Emergency response within 2 hours |
| Collapsed, blocked, or settled drainage system not assessed as an emergency | 21 days |
Highway gullies and soakaways are also maintained through a routine cleansing programme. A gully that appears blocked may sometimes be affected by a problem further along the connected drainage system.
Traffic signalled junctions and crossings
Traffic signal installations are inspected annually and maintained through a combination of planned and reactive maintenance.
Reported faults are assessed and prioritised according to their safety implications and their effect on traffic, pedestrians, cyclists and the operation of the network.
The Highway Asset Management Strategy (HAMS) does not set individual response times for different types of traffic-signal fault.
Traffic signs and posts
| Priority | Type of traffic sign and road category | Target response time |
|---|---|---|
| Priority 1 | Regulatory or warning signs on Strategic and Main Distributor roads | Within 5 days. Make safe or provide suitable temporary signs Within 13 weeks. Install replacement |
| Priority 2 | Regulatory or warning signs on other roads | Within 21 days. Make safe or provide suitable temporary signs Within 13 weeks. Install replacement |
| Priority 3 | Other types of sign | Within 13 weeks. Replacement subject to available budget |
Road markings
Road markings are used to define roads, bus and cycle lanes, and traffic calming schemes. They also help enforce parking or loading areas and reduce damage to the side of roads.
| Priority | Type of road marking and road category | Target response time |
|---|---|---|
| Priority 1 | Non-existent or barely visible junction and regulatory markings on Strategic and Main Distributor roads | Within 5 days. Replace the marking or provide suitable temporary signs |
| Priority 2 | Non-existent or barely visible junction and regulatory markings on Secondary Distributor, Link and Local access roads | Within 21 days. Replace the marking or provide suitable temporary signs |
| Priority 3 | Other deteriorated road markings | Within 13 weeks. Include in replacement work programme |
Where road repairs remove an existing road marking, the marking should be replaced within the timescale as part of the repair work.
Road stud (cat's eye)
| Stud type and location | Target response time |
|---|---|
| Road studs on Strategic and Main Distributor routes | 21 days |
| Road studs on other road categories | 13 weeks |
| Solar studs in the road | 21 days |
| Solar studs on a footway or cycleway | 13 weeks |
Grass weeds and highway vegetation
Our routine maintenance programme for grass cutting and weed spraying provides for:
- visibility splays at junctions and bends to be cut four times each year
- rural road verges to be cut twice each year
- urban road verges to be cut three times each year
- protected road verges to be cut twice each year
- weeds in built-up areas with speed limits of 40mph or less to receive at least two treatments each year
Additional cutting may be undertaken where growth causes a safety problem.
We support No Mow May where vegetation does not create a safety risk. Grass cutting will continue where vegetation could obstruct visibility, narrow a footway or cycleway, or otherwise endanger highway users.
Overgrown vegetation
The following minimum clearances apply. Response times are determined by risk.
| Vegetation location | Required clearance | Target response time |
|---|---|---|
| Footways, footpaths, urban rights of way and cycle paths | 2.5m vertical clearance and at least 1m available width | Emergency response within 2 hours, other qualifying obstructions within 21 days |
| Shared-use paths and cycleways | 2.5m vertical clearance and at least 1.5m available width | Emergency response within 2 hours, other qualifying obstructions within 21 days |
| Carriageways | 5.2m vertical clearance and vegetation kept at least 450mm from the carriageway edge | Emergency response within 2 hours, other qualifying obstructions within 21 days |
Vegetation owned by an adjoining landowner may require the council to use a statutory process requiring that owner to cut it back. Bird-nesting restrictions and other environmental requirements can also affect when work can be undertaken.
Highway trees
Trees on the adopted highway and trees within falling distance of it are assessed according to the risk they present.
| Tree problem | Target response time |
|---|---|
| Unstable tree presenting a danger of collapse onto the highway | Emergency response within 2 hours |
| Overhanging tree obstructing the required clearance over a road, footway or cycleway | 21 days |
| Non-emergency report of tree damage | Inspection or response within 10 working days |
Where a dangerous tree is on privately owned land, we may contact the landowner and require them to undertake the necessary work. If it presents an immediate risk, the council may act to make the highway safe and seek to recover its costs from the owner.
For more information including, please visit our Highways Trees webpage.
