Pothole plague: It’s going to cost councils £12bn to fill every pothole in Britain
Some argue it's to do with local government cutbacks, while others suggest it's to do with worsening weather – either way, a plague of potholes has swept the country, and a new report suggest it will take 13 years and cost councils £12.16bn to fill them all.
According to the Asphalt Industry Alliance, London will spend £25.2m per authority to fill all the potholes around today.
And councils are now spending more man-hours than ever before processing claims from drivers whose vehicles have been damaged by potholes. 
Local authorities spent £18m – that's 225 hours per month per authority – processing claims last year.
The good news is that the average number of potholes filled per authority has increased, from 15,195 in 2013/14, to 20,702 in 2014/15. However, while the average cost of filling a pothole has stayed the same over the past three years for local authorities in England, in London it's risen from £70 last year to £72 now. In 2011, that figure was just £55.
Alan Mackenzie, chairman of the Asphalt Industry Alliance, said the government's commitment to spend £6bn on purging the blight of potholes was "only enough for local authorities to keep pace with repairs and will not prevent continuing deterioration".