CYCLISTS and motorists have spoken out about the road network’s “crazy” potholes as a new report reveals Yorkshire’s repairs backlog stands at £1.63bn.

Bradford Council says it is dealing with the issue, after having hired a patch repair machine and filling 2,000 potholes in the past five weeks.

But transport boss, Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, called for more Government funding to allow them to do longer-term resurfacing work.

He said: “We’ve made the budget stretch further by looking at new ways of working to repair more potholes at a faster rate while maintaining high standards.

“However, this sort of work is very reactive and as others are arguing, with better Government funding we’d be able to do more longer-term resurfacing work to prevent potholes from appearing in the first place.

“As it is, Government cuts are making it harder to stay on top of potholes every year.”

The annual survey of local councils, by the Asphalt Industry Alliance, reveals it would take 12 years to get Yorkshire’s roads up to scratch.

And it warns one in six of the nation’s roads will need to be replaced in the next five years.

Its chairman, Alan Mackenzie, called on the Government to put more money into road repairs.

He said the public saw improving the condition of the roads as a national priority but “central government doesn’t seem to agree”.

He said: “Behind the smokescreen of big numbers aggregated over several years to make them sound impressive, lies decades of underfunding which, coupled with the effects of increased traffic and wetter winters on an ageing network, means one in six of our local roads will not be fit for purpose in five years’ time.”

Chris Nelson, of Bradford Cycle Club, said in his opinion, the pothole problem in West Yorkshire was “getting worse”.

He said: “It’s been a massive issue, really. Absolutely crazy. You could lose your life going over some of these potholes. That’s pretty serious.”

Mr Nelson, of Bradford, said in the past year, he had damaged his bike on a pothole near Yeadon, which had “cost a pretty penny”.

He said: “My front spokes have gone over a big pothole and my bike has cracked. I had to replace all my forks.”

And he said often, cycle lanes were in a worse state of repair than roads.

He said: “You go on a group ride and you are having to shout out, ‘Pothole, pothole,’ behind you.”

Shabbir Master, of the Hackney Carriage Owners and Drivers Association, said potholes were “a nightmare” for cabbies.

And he questioned the durability and value-for-money of the repairs, saying a stretch of Clayton Road and Hollingwood Lane in Bradford had recently been resurfaced and was already wearing out in parts.

He said: “That road has been resurfaced just before Christmas. It hasn’t been three months yet, and if you look at the state of the road, it’s got a lot of potholes.”

Bradford Council yesterday insisted it had enough money to deal with potholes, with around £150,000 set aside for the coming financial year.

So far in 2016/17, it has spent around £123,000 repairing 8,640 potholes, a spokesman said.

She added: “Over the past five weeks we have hired a velocity patcher which is brought in at times when pothole numbers increase, such as during cold winter spells.

“We repaired 2,000 potholes with the patcher.”

The authority could not provide an estimate of its repairs backlog, but said all A and B roads were inspected on a four-week cycle and people could also report potholes via its website.

The Department for Transport refuted claims it wasn’t providing councils with enough cash for pothole repairs.

A spokesman said: “We are providing West Yorkshire Combined Authority with more than £37 million to fix their roads in 2017-18, including £2.231 million to fill over 42,000 potholes in the county.

“Nationally, we are providing councils more than £6bn over six years to maintain roads and repair potholes.

“On top of this, we announced last autumn an additional £1.1bn to upgrade and repair roads for communities across England.”