PLAID Cymru have today criticised Welsh councils for time wasting with one Gwent Council taking 229 days to repair a pothole last year.

The latest figures follow an FOI request made by Plaid Cymru to all the local authorities across Wales. They asked councils to reveal their stated target times for repairing potholes and the success rate of repairs carried out in this time.

Caerphilly council gives itself a 28 day target for repairing potholes, far longer than the other Gwent councils’ 48 or 24 hour targets. Despite the longer period, it only managed to repair 64 per cent or potholes in this time. The longest time to repair a pothole in 2012-13 was 229 days.

In the 2012-13 financial year, 9,535 repairs were carried out at a cost of £766,751 from a total pothole budget of £960,000.

Lindsay Whittle, Plaid Cymru AM for South Wales East and a former leader of Caerphilly council, said: “When Plaid was running Caerphilly council we invested considerable sums in ensuring potholes were filled.

“Even in these times of severe financial restraint for local authorities, it is important that our road network is kept in the highest possible standard not just for motorists but also cyclists.

“If it is not, then councils will find themselves facing increasing claims for compensation as a result of damage to vehicles.”

Both Newport and Monmouthshire councils aim to make repairs within a 24 hour period. Monmouthshire boasted an impressive 100 per cent repair rate of Category 1 potholes, while Newport reached 86 per cent.

Blaenau Gwent repaired 84.19 per cent in its target time of 48 hours. Torfaen Council were unable to provide any information.

A spokesman at Caerphilly council said, "Caerphilly county borough council will spend over £9 million on maintaining its vast highway network for the year 2013/14. Over £3.6 million of carriageway surface treatments will be undertaken during the year along with additional works including carriageway reconstruction, highway resurfacing, footway resurfacing and bridge strengthening schemes which will be funded by £2.8 million of prudential borrowing that the Welsh Government is providing over the next 22 years."