POTHOLES, blocked drains and faulty street lights can now be easily reported online as part of a drive to bring roads up to scratch.

Cumbria County Council has launched a new online service for reporting highways faults which it hopes will streamline the process of fixing them.

The authority receives hundreds of queries every month about faults, but it hopes the public can now act as its eyes by reporting faults using its website - including attaching pictures.

Nearly 17,000 faults on the highway were reported by members of the public to the authority in 2016/17.

It will be investing £80m in highways maintenance in 2017/18.

Keith Little, the county council's cabinet member for highways, hopes the new service will help the authority deal with faults more efficiently and effectively.

He said: "We've got such a large road network - we are the fifth largest highways authority in the country.

"We obviously can't be everywhere on the roads all the time and these potholes appear overnight or over a couple of days.

"We rely on the public to be our eyes and this new system will allow them to easily contact Cumbria County Council for us to act more efficiently and effectively."

People can search for the postcode or street where the fault is, then pinpoint its exact location to help council workers identify and fix it.

By providing an email address, people reporting faults can now receive automatic updates on how work is progressing and when the fault has been dealt with.

A map is also available to show previously reported faults, their current status and allow people to register for updates on those faults.

The new online service instantly notifies a highways area steward when a fault is reported, allowing them to review the information and allocate it to one of the council's highways teams.

The repair teams have also been issued with new tablets to allow them to receive information in real time rather than needing to return to a highways depot for instructions.

To report highways faults online, visit the website HERE or call 0300 303 2992.