THERE can be little doubt that potholes are a major problem in the county.

The pictures in our story today represent just a fraction of the tens of thousands the local authorities have to deal with each year.

There’s no denying it’s a mammoth task, and we welcome the announcement by the county council earlier this month that £3.5m was being put into roads maintenance.

However, there must be a better way of solving the problem.

It is short-term thinking to just go for quick fixes if highways teams then have to go out a few weeks later to have another go.

There may well be circumstances where temporary repairs are unavoidable.

But to not keep records of which is which is madness.

It means that if you report a pothole on your road, you have no idea whether it will need reporting for a second time within weeks.

If the city council appears to manage to keep track of what is temporary and what is permanent, why can’t the county?