Report a pothole

You can report potholes in Suffolk quickly and easily online. Find out how to report a problem using our Highways Reporting Tool.

Our Highways Reporting Tool allows you to report a new defect and monitor the status of existing reports.

Do not report a pothole online if:

it poses an immediate danger to public safety Instead, please call 0345 606 6171.
it’s on a trunk road in Suffolk. Instead, please call the National Highways Information Line on 0300 123 5000.
it's on a private road.

Before reporting

Before reporting a pothole, please read through the information below on pothole criteria.

Once you have read through the information and you believe the pothole you would like to report meets the intervention level, please check that this defect has not already been reported.

Check for existing reports

When you start the reporting process using the button below, you will be shown a map.

You can check if a problem has already been reported by clicking on the 'Show Key' button. The coloured icons show the progress of each report.

Once you have checked for existing reports and the defect meets the criteria below, please continue to report the defect.

Reporting a problem takes about 2 minutes.

By using the Highways Reporting Tool, you're agreeing to our terms of use.

Report a pothole

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The way we determine potholes and other defects are based upon the Highways Maintenance Operational Plan (HMOP) which is a risk assessment based upon location, road category and severity of the possible defect. It has matrices that indicate the appropriate minimum response for each type of defect.

To meet our intervention criteria, a pothole needs to be at least 4cm deep and 20cm in width. For any defect that do not meet our intervention criteria, we will continue to monitor the defects during routine inspections in case they worsen and will take appropriate action as required.

Potholes that do meet our intervention criteria (of between 4 and 10cm and 20cm or more in width) will be repaired between 10 working days and 8 calendar weeks depending on the priority of the road. For example, 'A' roads will be within 10 working days and minor roads and cul-de-sacs will usually be within 8 calendar weeks.

Larger potholes that also meet our intervention criteria (of over 10cm deep and 20cm or more in width) will be repaired between 2 working days and 20 working days depending on the priority of the road. For example, 'A' roads will likely be within 2 working days and minor roads and cul-de-sacs will usually be within 20 working days.

Once we have identified a defect as requiring repair and where it is safe to do so, we will mark it with a temporary road marking paint. This highlights the defect for our repair teams and other Highway users. These marks will normally fade within a few weeks.

When we have marked a defect the repair is being organised and so these do not need to be reported to us again.

1. Read the information on the entry screen then click the Continue button

2. Find your location by typing the road name, parish or postcode of the problem in the search box. (You can also use the "Find my location" button in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.)

3. Click on the map to plot the location of the problem (you can drag and drop to pinpoint the exact location)

4. Complete the Report a Problem form

5. Click the Submit Report button

We'll investigate your report, and make a decision on any action that may need to be taken and by when.

The response to a report is based on:

the type of problem
what road category the report is on
risk to public safety

If you provided an email address, you'll receive a reference number for your report and updates on what will happen next.

If you did not provide an email address you can still check for updates - use the search box or zoom in to your report location and click on the coloured pin for information.

You can read more about how we manage and prioritise pothole repairs.

Report a pothole

Before reporting

Check for existing reports

Pothole criteria

How to use the reporting tool

After reporting

Other ways to report