The millions who motor to Blackpool for their holidays are having to contend with some of the worst road conditions in the UK, an AA survey shows.
The Lancashire resort – along with Oldham in Greater Manchester and Dartford in Kent – was judged to have streets in the poorest state.
In contrast, the best streets, in categories including potholes, pavements, road markings and cleanliness, were in Taunton in Somerset, Ipswich and the Berwick and Borders region of Scotland.
The street survey was carried out by 1,912 AA members this autumn. They recorded the frequency of 12 categories of street blight within two miles of their homes.
These covered potholes, road repairs, damaged kerbs, inspection covers, road works, uneven payments, blocked drains, badly parked vehicles, litter, dog mess, bad signs and worn road markings. The survey showed:
:: London streets had the fewest potholes and patches while the worst pothole areas were Kilmarnock in Scotland, the Fylde coast of Lancashire (which includes Blackpool) and Telford in Shropshire;
:: Berwick & Borders was the cleanest area, making the top three for both litter and dog fouling; The worst streets for litter and dog fouling were in Liverpool and Paisley in Scotland;
:: The most serious problem was considered to be potholes, while the most reported “bad street item” was litter;
:: Overall, Welsh streets were the best and north-east England ones were the worst;
:: Northern Ireland streets were the worst for kerbs, roadworks, road signs, road markings and dog mess; But Northern Ireland had the least problem with potholes and the best pavements and paths.
