Praise? For a council? About potholes?! Surely not '“ leader comment

Potholes are a bugbear of all road users '“ particularly motorcyclists and cyclists '“ and for good reason.

Potholes are particularly dangerous for cyclists (Picture: Ian Rutherford)

Councillors may go into politics fired by the high-minded theories of Adam Smith or Keir Hardie, but they soon find the more mundane concern of fixing the roads is rather higher up the agenda of their constituents. Councils are used to getting it in the neck about this particular issue on a regular basis – woe betide the local politician who doesn’t take a pothole seriously. However, they may be unused to the words that The Scotsman is, somewhat tentatively, printing today: Well done.

Or at least, well done to South Lanarkshire Council for aiming to respond to reports “immediately”. Only two other councils in the UK set such a speedy target, while at the other end of the scale some allow up to 24 hours. Other road users may look jealously at the good folk of South Lanarkshire and ask: “If they can have such a service, why can’t we?” The caveat is that we don’t quite know how well those potholes are filled in and how often South Lanarkshire misses its aim.