Motorists in Swindon have to tackle some of the most persistent potholes in the country, with under one fifth of the reported hazards fixed.

And the situation is as bad in the surrounding region, with Wiltshire and Oxfordshire each having thousands of unfilled potholes.

According to figures from cyclists’ website, FillThatHole.org.uk, there are 164 unrepaired potholes in Swindon. Of the 197 which have been reported, only 33 – or 17 per cent – have been fixed.

In Wiltshire, 1,322 potholes remain as a hazard to road users, the 23rd highest number of any authority in the country.

Only 20 per cent of the 1,656 reported potholes have been repaired according to the website.

Bridget Wayman, Wiltshire Council’s cabinet member for highways, said: “We’re working incredibly hard to improve Wiltshire’s roads, however, as a rural county, we look after more miles of roads than most.

“We are spending £3m more on road maintenance and improvements than the government grants of £16.5m, and in total will be spending £27m on improving our roads network and bridges this year. This has seen the historic backlog being greatly reduced.

“We constantly monitor our roads so we can programme appropriate work to help improve their condition. Where there are local road issues we’d encourage people to report them using MyWilts and we will address these as quickly as possible.”

The picture is similarly bleak for those heading out of the county, particularly to the north.

Oxfordshire County Council’s jurisdiction contains the ninth highest number of potholes untreated of any authority in the UK, with 2,348 open reports listed. They have repaired 30 per cent of reported potholes.

Gloucestershire County Council features 13th on the list, with 1,852 open potholes, and only 19 per cent repaired. West Berkshire Council has 479 open potholes, and has repaired just 20 per cent of those reported.

A spokesman for Swindon Borough Council said: “We would encourage people to report any potholes to the Council direct, rather than use a third party website.

“Defects can be reported by visiting www.swindon.gov.uk/potholes and we will aim to respond to any potholes that are over 40mm deep within 24 hours of them being identified.

“We will assess and repair any other potholes that are between 31mm and 40mm deep within six weeks of them being identified.

“The road network in Swindon Borough is over 800km in length and the recent cold weather has caused a number of potholes to open up very rapidly on our road network. However, our teams are out on a daily basis repairing potholes identified by our inspectors or by the public.”