Edinburgh drivers have been left forking out for expensive car repairs after hitting an unexpected pothole.
The capital has seen a number of motorists complain as they try and dodge and swerve craters in the road, with one MSP branding Edinburgh the "pothole capital of Europe."
MSP Miles Briggs recently shared an image of a huge pothole on Charlotte Square in the city centre and said: "I’ve never seen Edinburgh’s roads in such a shocking state of disrepair. The city is rapidly becoming the pothole capital of Europe."
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This comes after a Freedom of Information (FOI) request regarding potholes was lodged to the local council by the Scottish Express . It looked over the five years from 2017-202 and highlighted that Queensferry Road had the highest number of complaints from motorists due to "road defects".
The report also found that Ferry Road appeared multiple times over the years in 2017, 2019 and again in 2020.
Meanwhile Edinburgh Live reported how Greendykes Road has been slammed by locals as one of the worst roads in Edinburgh in recent months. One driver, Kyle Johnston spoke out about how the state of the street means that he sees cars forced to wait while another drives down.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live earlier in January, the Niddrie man said: "You've got weave through the road to avoid the potholes. Earlier a car actually waited at the end of the road so that I could come through without hitting the potholes."
This came after he found a punctured tyre while driving down Craigmillar Castle Road. With this, the FOI revealed that that nearly £50,000 in total had been splashed out for repairs due to the potholes and large craters on the roads in Scotland's capital between 2017-2021. The highest of which was made in 2018 at an eye-watering £23,131.25.
In 2021, the City of Edinburgh Council paid out £2,060.30 last year in compensation to owners of vehicles damaged by potholes, down from £6,113.32 in the previous year.
Councillor Scott Arthur, Transport and Environment Convener, responded: “I know how frustrating road defects like potholes can be for all road users, and we recently redirected additional resources in light of the volume of enquiries currently coming through. This increase in enquiries has been worsened by the prolonged cold weather in mid to late December followed by torrential rain on the 30th December and then continued wet weather.
“We aim to inspect reports as quickly as possible and target an inspection within five working days and categorise and prioritise our defects to ensure that the worst potholes are actioned first. It’s essential that we direct limited resources where needed, so our roads continue to be usable and safe. I acknowledge that road maintenance in Edinburgh is underfunded, and I hope to work with other political parties to address this in the coming budget.”
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