National Pothole Day: Television’s GB News visits the ‘trench warfare’ on the A5 near Towcester

With National Pothole Day this weekend and increasing reports of problems with the A5 between Towcester and Stony Stratford, the national TV station GB News came to find out more.

Mr Pothole took a ride with Will Hollis, reporter from GB News along the A5, to show him the issues that motorists are dealing with, where a number of vehicles were seen swerving across the road to avoid the holes.

Since Mr Pothole’s recent work contacting various agencies about the road conditions, National Highways has been out to erect signs to reduce speed and warning signs of an uneven road surface along that stretch of road and also undertaken some emergency repairs to some of the larger holes.

Councillor Ian McCord was asked about his thoughts on the state of the highway and he said: “This patching of the road is not a fix. A proper plan should be made to get this road safe.

"It appears to me that there are a number of temporary repairs and the materials used are not in-keeping with the use of the road. This stretch of the A5 runs parallel to the M1 and when there is a problem there, this road is used as an overspill.

“If you go to Fix My Street, you will see that you almost can’t report any more potholes as there is no space left.

“It needs a permanent fix, which would be a much better use of money than closing the road for these temporary fixes. These repairs only last a matter of weeks.”

Mark Morrell – or Mr Pothole – added: “There have been a number of deaths along this area of the A5 recently and it should be a priority to get this piece of road sorted properly. This stretch of road is so bad that it now has its own Facebook page.”

Mr Pothole is well known for his expertise on the state of UK roads and welcomed the opportunity to meet up with a national television broadcaster to showcase how bad the A5 is.

Will Hollis from GN News said: “This is a local perspective on a national problem.”

The Super Sausage Cafe in Pottersbury along the A5 attracts a lot of visitors who use the road regularly. When approached to ask what their thoughts were on the road, comments such as “The A5 should get a gold award for the potholes,” and “It’s like a giant slalom out there,” were made.

When asked for an update on the A5, National Highways programme development manager, Karen Moore, said: “We are aware of the deterioration of the A5 road surface and due to begin a package of resurfacing works along the length of the A5 between Old Stratford roundabout in Milton Keynes and Atherstone beginning next month.

“In the meantime, our inspectors are checking the route at least twice a week and any temporary repairs are carried out as necessary.

“We know that good quality roads are important to the millions of drivers that use our network each day. Safety is also our primary concern and we set stringent standards for pothole repairs on our roads.”