Norwich Tops eBay’s Pothole Index, Revealing UK’s Worst Roads

John W Hayes
3 min readMay 31, 2023

A recent Pothole Index, developed by eBay’s Car Parts & Accessories team, has unveiled Norwich as the city with the most dismal road conditions in the UK. The index utilised sales data from purchases of parts susceptible to pothole damage, such as wheels, tires, and hubcaps, to identify the towns and cities with the greatest need for road repairs.

Photo by Matt Hoffman on Unsplash

By examining the demand for these vulnerable items in relation to population size, Norwich, located in Norfolk, emerged as the city with the highest number of purchases per capita in the country. Following closely behind were Lincoln in Lincolnshire and Chesterfield in Derbyshire, with Preston in Lancashire and Tamworth in Staffordshire completing the top five.

The Pothole Problem

Recognising the urgency of addressing the pothole problem, the government announced an additional £200 million in funding for highway maintenance for the financial year 2023–2024. This supplementary budget aims to alleviate the widespread issue and is in addition to the existing allocation for highway maintenance.

Interestingly, despite Norwich claiming the undesirable distinction of topping the eBay Pothole Index, motorists in Norfolk, the Local Authority responsible for road upkeep, will receive £6,356,800 this year to mend…

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John W Hayes

Marketing Strategist, Author of #BecomingTHEExpert, Content Marketing Trainer, and Cyclist. Check out my author profile: https://amzn.to/2OO5DR5