Transport secretary Heidi Alexander could at least see the funny side when she became the latest victim of the £19bn road maintenance backlog, telling journalists that a pothole worthy of the lunar landscape forced her car to be towed: a case of 'Westminster we have a problem'?
In an interview with The Sun, Ms Alexander said: ‘I joked to my husband that I thought that the astronauts on Artemis II might have seen a similar-sized crater when they were slingshotting around the Moon.'
She added that the pothole on the B4437 in Oxfordshire had caused her ‘added expense and inconvenience' but did note that this was likely the experience of ‘far too many people' in England currently.
Sharing the news on X (formerly Twitter), Ms Alexander stated that the Government are ‘investing record funding to fix Britain's roads, and introducing tough new standards to make sure road users see the difference'.
This incident follows this year's Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey, which was published last month and showed that England and Wales are facing a road maintenance backlog of over £18bn.
Responding to the minister's post, Mark Morrell (aka Mr Pothole) offered the type of friendly support to Westminster politicians that he has become famous for, saying: ‘If you want advice on a claim, let me know'.
David Giles, chair of the AIA, commented: ‘Heidi Alexander's experience is unfortunately one that is shared by many and highlights, yet again, the woeful condition of our local roads. Thankfully it was only the Transport Secretary's car that was damaged. Had she been on two wheels, the consequences could have been far more serious.
‘The Government has made a welcome step forward in addressing the situation with its commitment to increase funding to 2030 and its new measures to ensure it is spent on our local roads and not diverted elsewhere.
‘What we need now is for the Government's to fully deliver the additional funding pledged in the years to 2030. This should help support a shift away from the seemingly endless cycle of pothole patch and repair and allow local authority highway teams to sooner deliver the necessary resurfacing and proactive programmes that prevent potholes forming in the first place.'
