60 percent of region's motorists say roads are getting worse
A survey has revealed that a third of AA members have suffered damage to their cars from potholes over the last two years, while nearly six in 10 motorists in the North East said roads in the region were worse than they were a year ago.
A third of motorists rated the overall surface condition of their local roads as poor, very poor or terrible in the AA/Populus survey of nearly 23,000 drivers.
Only 10% of those polled rated their local roads very good or excellent, with the lowest ratings going to Scotland, Yorkshire and Humberside.
In north-east England, 59% said conditions were worse, while those saying the roads had improved were greatest in Wales and London.
"This spring our patrols are telling us that potholes are popping up faster than daffodils. This reflects the effects of very wet and frosty weather on poor road surfaces.
"Our findings are deeply worrying and show that UK drivers are once again experiencing a bad pothole season after a lull last spring - perhaps with worse to come. The slight let-up in potholes this time last year may have been just a blip in the annual pothole blight that seems to beset us each spring.
"Ring-fenced finance must be found to plug an increasing gap in highway budgets."
John Topping from Ripon recently ended up with a £150 bill for the damage caused to his car by potholes. He wants councils to compensate motorists whose cars need repairs and also wants local authorities to spend more money on evening up the road surface before problems are caused.
A mechanic from Barkers Garage in Ripon says they are regularly called on to fix the damage caused to vehicles by potholes. James Dickinson has to repair bent wheel hubs and damaged suspension springs.
The pothole problem : 2,000 repairs a week and counting
Durham County Council says it's repairing more than 2,000 potholes a week caused by the recent bad weather.
Extra teams are out fixing problems along its 2,000 miles of road.
Helen Ford has been looking how the council is dealing with the pothole problem, and asking whether the spending squeeze is affecting the budget for repairs. Watch her report here:
Durham County Council is urging people to report potholes on its Highway Action Line: 0191 370 6000 or through its website www.durham.gov.uk