FIGURES show that nearly 31,000 potholes were reported to the council in the past financial year, making Edinburgh the “pothole capital” of Scotland.
Over 400,000 potholes have been reported in Scotland in the last four years, as revealed by a series of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests collected by the Scottish Conservatives.
This news comes just days after National Pothole Day, in which the council showed off pictures of their JCB Pothole Pro machine.
The council claimed to have repaired 22,000 square metres of pothole-covered land, but figures still show that the city accounts for almost a quarter of all potholes reported in Scotland.
A total of 31 out of 32 local authorities in Scotland released their data, meaning that the real number of potholes in the country could be even more than the reported 413,183.
It has been revealed that the figure for 2024/25 so far is already an enormous 30,751.
Edinburgh’s JCB “Pothole Killer” costs upwards of £5,416 a month and is claimed to carry out repairs in a quarter of the time at half the cost of other machines.
Scottish Conservative transport spokeswoman, Sue Webber, said: “With over 400,000 potholes recorded in the last few years, motorists are paying a heavy price for the SNP’s failures to fix our pothole-ridden roads up and down the country.
“The buck stops firmly with the SNP.
“Their savage and sustained cuts to council budgets mean they simply do not have the resources to repair these potholes and the situation is only worsening year after year.
“The condition of many roads in Scotland is so appalling that they are not fit for purpose.
“This week coincided with National Pothole Day and these figures must be an urgent wake-up call for SNP ministers to act.
“They must finally give councils a fair funding deal and stop motorists from having to dodge potholes every time they drive on our roads.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “It is up to individual local authorities to manage their day-to-day, decision-making and allocate the total financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities.
“We recognise the crucial role councils and their employees play in communities across Scotland.
“That’s why the Scottish Government has made available over £14bn to local councils this year, a real terms increase of 4.3%, with a record £15bn for 2025-26 set out in the Scottish Budget, a real terms increase of 4.7%.”
Edinburgh transport convener Stephen Jenkinson said: “We’re making really good progress.
“We continue to prioritise roads and have backed that up financially over the last couple of years and the statistics show Edinburgh’s roads score is heading in the right direction.
“But we’re tackling a problem that has been a decade in the making.
“I’m committed to continuing to invest in Edinburgh’s roads and do what I can to improve the experience for road users.
“We allocated an extra £12.5m last year and I’m looking to allocate a similar sum in this coming budget.
“Ultimately it’s investing heavily in the roads over a sustained period that will make a real difference.”
