Surrey County Council is hoping AI will help it deal with the plague of potholes on its roads.

The move comes as new figures from the AA reveal the total cost of vehicle repairs related to potholes across the UK reached £579 million in 2024, a significant increase from £474 million the previous year, marking the highest total on record.

The council initiative, developed in partnership with AI company Route Reports, uses computer vision cameras installed on vehicle dashboards to detect and photograph potholes.

The images are then automatically logged for repair. In the future, the system will also be programmed to identify other road defects, such as missing signs and overgrown foliage, which will also be scheduled for maintenance.

The technology eliminates the need for highways inspectors to physically inspect the roads, making the process safer and more efficient. Potholes that don’t require immediate repair will be regularly monitored to ensure they are addressed when necessary.

Matt Furniss, Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Economic Growth, said: “We have some of the country’s busiest roads and we’re working incredibly hard to improve them, with nearly £300m allocated to repairing and improving Surrey’s roads and pavements over the next five years.

“Adopting this technology will mean we can proactively log and fix potholes, helping to ensure we have well-maintained roads across the county for our residents.

“We’re also resurfacing more roads and pavements than ever with 100 miles of roads and 30 miles of pavements resurfaced by our highways teams from April – December 2024 alone. This will make our highway network more resilient which will reduce the number of potholes that develop on our roads in the first place.

“I’m also pleased that we are pioneering AI technology to detect potholes as championed by the Government just this week."

Connell McLaughlin, chief executive of Route Reports said, "We’re thrilled to formalise this long-term partnership with Surrey County Council, who were among our earliest supporters and collaborators in developing Route Reports’ AI road maintenance platform.

“Their feedback and hands-on involvement played a key role in refining our defect detection technology to ensure it meets the real-world needs of the community. This partnership exemplifies how innovative solutions and local expertise can come together to make roads safer, more efficient, and more sustainable."

Surrey County Council says it is the first local authority in the UK to move away from manual inspections and solely use video and AI technology to log and programme pothole repairs. The council has worked with provider, Route Reports, to trial and develop the software.

It has been estimated that the cost of bringing pothole-strewn local roads in England and Wales up to scratch is around £16.3 billion.