MORE than 30,000 reports of potholes have been received by local councils in the past three years, according to a recent study.

In East Renfrewshire, the council has received almost 26,500 reports of craters in the roads since 2015, while in Renfrewshire there have been more than 6,500.

The figures have come from a study by insurance provider The Insurance Emporium. The Yorkshire-based firm quizzed more than 200 UK councils on potholes via a Freedom of Information request, with 175 responding.

The situation in East Renfrewshire has been improving since 2016, when there were more than 9,500 reports of potholes. Last year, the number dropped to almost 4,700 – a fall of more than 50 per cent in two years.

An East Renfrewshire Council spokesman said: “Almost £4million is invested in our Roads Revenue Works programme each year. This includes reactive repairs such as potholes.

“Our teams carry out safety inspections of our public road network and repairs of any safety defects found. Roads are assessed by our team and are prioritised based on a number of factors. We will continue to assess the condition of our roads regularly.”

In Renfrewshire, the number of reports has increased by almost 70 per cent since 2015, with 2,106 reported last year, compared to 1,246 three years ago.

A Renfrewshire Council spokesman said: “We committed our largest ever single investment of £7.2million in our roads network in 2018/19. The programme is almost complete, with 84 roads having been resurfaced and a further 24 carriageways being addressed to prevent future deterioration. 

“We continue to encourage people to report any issues with road surfaces.”