Answer

Funny you should mention this. What I am about to tell you, if enacted en masse, has the potential to bring the whole system down. Treat with care…

The law is S.56 of the Highways Act. It isn’t new, it has been around since the 80s. However, no one bothers to do anything about it. The law reads (I am giving you the short version):

A person (“the complainant”) who alleges that a way or bridge is a highway maintainable at the public expense and is out of repair may serve a notice on the highway authority requiring the respondent to state whether he admits that the way or bridge is a highway and that he is liable to maintain it.

If within 1 month, the highway doesn’t respond (and let’s be honest, they probably won’t) then the complainant may apply to the Crown Court for an order to put it in proper repair within such reasonable period as may be specified in the order.

If the highway authority does respond, then within 6 months from the date of service on him of that notice, apply to a magistrates’ court for an order requiring the respondent, if the court finds that the highway is out of repair, to put it in proper repair within such reasonable period as may be specified in the order.

The best bit? Any expenses which a complainant reasonably incurs in carrying out works authorised by an order under subsection (6) above are recoverable from the respondent summarily as a civil debt.

This is a much more powerful tool than simply ‘report a pothole’, where nothing actually gets done once it is reported. This has real teeth and if everyone decided to use S.56 of the Highways Act, we may well see real change on our roads.

Gavin Grewal

Fast Bikes – June 2026