Like the Great British weather, the condition of our roads is a perennial cause for complaint, but unlike the weather we can all do something about the potholes on our roads.

Street Repairs, the people behind the online pothole reporting website and smart phone app, have organised National Pothole Day to try and galvanise people into action, encouraging them to report potholes that they encounter on their local roads.

We come across potholes and other defects on our roads every day, but many of them go unreported. A small pothole can be quickly and inexpensively repaired. However, the same pothole, if left over the winter, will grow in size through repeated freezing and thawing of the water accumulating in it. After just a few months, the pothole will become a safety hazard and will be much more expensive to put right.

To ensure that the roads in West Berkshire remain in a safe and usable condition, the Council carries out routine safety inspections. All public highways are routinely inspected by qualified inspectors who then arrange for repairs to be carried out to address any defects that they find. The frequency of inspection is dependent on the type of road and the traffic using it. On minor roads, these can be quite lengthy, which means that some problems can go undetected for weeks or even months.

Street Repairs makes it easy to report problems on the roads, by providing one website through which residents can submit any issue, to any local council anywhere, any time. Smartphone technology allows residents to report problems in real-time. You can attach photographs and give a detailed description whilst out and about. Updates on the status of your report are sent back to you via email and text message.

There are apps for iPhone and Android and you can also report problems via the website: www.streetrepairs.co.uk. So next time you see a pothole, don’t just mutter under your breath and carry on, take the time to report it and get it fixed!