Council says it is finally going to 'comprehensively repair' 'war torn' road in Northampton after months of huge potholes

In February, the Chronicle & Echo received numerous emails from residents urging the newspaper to visit Grange Road in Eastfield, a busy route near Northampton College’s Booth Lane campus, to see the current condition of the road.

The Chron went to take a look and saw that the roughly half-mile stretch of Grange Road was in extremely poor condition, with numerous large potholes scattered along the road.

In response, Councillor Richard Butler, cabinet member for highways at WNC, said at the time: “We have been addressing issues in Grange Road when they’re reported to us and will continue to do so until we are able to provide a more permanent solution.”

The Chron went back this week (March 30) to see what the road looked like nearly two months on from WNC’s pledge to find that permanent solution.

What we found was some patched up potholes next to a series of huge potholes still not patched, meaning that WNC's contractor, Kier, had filled in some of the potholes and left others.

After posting a picture on our social media of the road, here’s what our readers had to say:

Fiona Freeman said: “I drive along this road regularly and have needed three new tyres in the past two months. I drive carefully but find myself swerving to avoid the big ones.”

Abi Eaton said: “This road had led my car to having multiple new tyres!”

Peter Hares said: “That’s not a ‘Pot Hole’, that’s a failed road surface.”

Kyleigh Paige said: “I go on this road on the bus and it always sounds like the bus is just going to dismantle.”

Penny Lillibet said: “I kept my end up and paid my road tax … I’ll start invoicing the council for my damaged wheels soon. I regularly use this road!”

Karen Zivvyme said: “There’s not three or four, there’s dozens, now merging into bigger ones.”

Donna Collingwood said: “I would love to know the excuse of why they haven’t fixed this road!”

A resident said: “The whole of Grange Road is full of pot holes. They just bodge over it instead of fixing it properly. They’re very lucky there hasn't been an accident yet.”

Richard Bolch said: “War torn.”

Zoe Gleeson said: “Having to pass this road most days, it’s treacherous! You can’t swerve round to avoid in some places as it’s as bad both sides, so they’re impossible to dodge at some points, and everyone has to drive super slow to not cause car damage or flying debris. It’s disgraceful the council haven’t sorted it for months.

“Then we get our increased council tax bill through post, to add insult to injury. I don’t mind paying for police etc, but I’d love to know where the huge WNC portion of money goes.”

In response, WNC said: “The repairs in question were done in February to deal with the worst potholes (as per our emergency patching work outlined here), and Kier is scheduled to return in May to carry out more comprehensive repairs.”

The two Reform councillors for the area, Adrian Cartwright and Cameron Emery, have not responded to this newspaper’s approach for comment.

The Chron reported on the same issue in March 2025, when WNC was under Conservative control. Following that coverage, the potholes were reportedly repaired in April 2025.