Drivers are having to contend with more than three million holes in local authority roads in England and Wales, it was revealed today.

While roads suffer from about one million potholes, there are a further 2.5 million road openings made during streetworks by utility companies, a report by the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) found.

Potholes are a long-standing headache in the areas covered by Shropshire County Council and Telford & Wrekin Council, although both authorities have announced schemes to tackle the problem.

Telford MP David Wright recently highlighted the way in which the pothole “blight” causes danger to people, damage to vehicles and harm to the economy.

Veteran cyclist Ron Perks, from Wellington, and colleagues from a group called Last of the Summer Wine compiled a list of their 100 best potholes in Shropshire.

And the Cyclists’ Touring Club has launched a website – fillthathole.org.uk – in which users can zoom into any road in the UK, mark the location of the defect, and inform the local council which then has a duty to take action.

Today’s AIA report says there is a shortfall of more than £1 billion in highway maintenance budgets nationally and an 11-year backlog of maintenance work. The report says £53 million was paid out in compensation claims for damage to vehicles or road traffic accidents due to road structural conditions across England and Wales in 2006/07.

AIA chairman Jim Crick said: “Highways maintenance is still suffering from historically being treated as the Cinderella service.”

Kevin Clinton, of road safety at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said: “Good road surfaces are an essential part of the highway safety system.”

A Department for Transport spokesman said since 2002 the Government had more than trebled funding to councils for roads.

By Peter Johnson