Report a pothole or pavement damage

We carry out regular inspections throughout the year of our adopted roads, pavements and footpaths. If you spot a pothole or damage on a public road or pavement, please help our inspectors by reporting any problems you see. We can't repair private or unadopted roads, or areas outside the Liverpool boundary.

Is it an emergency?

If the damage is so severe and an immediate danger to traffic or pedestrians, this requires an immediate response. See examples below of the type of damage you should report as an emergency.

To report an emergency call 0151 233 3001.

If there is no immediate risk, please report it online.

What we inspect and repair

Potholes and surface damage

We inspect and repair potholes and surface damage that are deeper than:

4cm (40mm) on roads
2.5cm (25mm) on pavements, cycle paths and crossing points

If it doesn't meet this criteria, we don't normally repair them. This is in line with the Highways Inspection Code of Practice.

Overestimating the size of a pothole or damage does not mean it will be fixed. The impact of misreported potholes affects the delivery of the service we provide.

Pavement and kerb damage

We will inspect missing, damaged and sunken paving or tarmac, and damaged, raised or sunken kerb stones. We prioritise issues that are likely to cause a danger to pedestrians.

Examples of minor damage we do not repair

The examples shown are minor surface damage and not causing a public safety hazard. We will not fix these so please do not report them to us.

Example of an eroded/cracked road but no potholes. Not hazardous.
Example of pothole surface stripping, only 10mm deep. Not hazardous or damaging to vehicles.
Example of cracked paving sunk only 5 to 10mm. Not rocking or moving. No hazard.

Examples of severe damage we will repair

The examples shown are likely to cause a danger to traffic and pedestrians because of their size and position on the road or pavement. Please call us to report this type of damage.

Example of a pothole in the road which we attend to within 2 hours.
Example of a missing paving stone that we attend to within 2 hours.
Example of a flipped kerb stone that we attend to within 2 hours.

Examples of non-emergency damage we will inspect

The examples shown are non-emergency, which we will inspect within 28 days and let you know if any repair is needed. Please report these online.

Example of surface damage in the road which we attend to within 28 days.
Example of a cracked paving stone which we attend to within 28 days.
Example of a loose kerb stone which we attend to within 28 days.

How to report it

You can report non-emergency potholes or damage to roads, pavements and kerbs online.

To help us locate and understand the severity of the problem, provide a photo of the issue and surrounding landmarks, if you can. Only take a photograph if it is safe to do so.

Report non-emergency damage to a road or pavement

Read our privacy notice which tells you how we use your data.

What happens next?

Our highway inspector will visit the site to carry out a risk assessment to determine the severity of the hazard. Based on this, they will order an appropriate repair to be carried out by our contractor.

Our emergency response time for severe damage is 2 hours.
We will respond to non-emergency damage within 28 days.

Not all potholes or pavement damage require immediate repair. Following an inspection, repair work will be scheduled if recommended by the inspector. Priority and repair times depend on the degree of deficiency, site location, position in the road or pavement and the volume of traffic or pedestrians using the route.

The inspector will recommend that work is carried out where a pothole or damage is more than 40mm (4cm deep) on a road, or 2.5cm deep on a pavement, and contact with either pedestrians or vehicles is likely.
Other damage will be added to our scheduled programme of works for monitoring.
Reports that do not meet the required level may not be actioned.

Temporary repairs

We aim to repair pothole or pavement damage with the right type of repair, first time.

However, for the safety of road users, we may apply a temporary repair until we can fix it permanently. This might be because the location requires complex traffic management or because of adverse weather conditions.

If we do schedule a temporary repair, we will keep your case open until we fully fix the issue. This will usually be completed within 28 days.

How to identify the size of a pothole or surface damage

These are our minimum inspection levels for potholes or damage (2.5cm for pavements and 4cm for roads).

An example of 25mm (2.5cm) depth using one 50p coin.
Example of 40mm (4cm) depth using two 20p coins.