Highway crews were sent out as soon as the ice and snow abated to inspect road surfaces and identify which areas of the county’s 3,000 miles of highway were most in need of repair.

So far this year around 3,500 potholes and other defects have been filled which works out to a rate of about one every 10 minutes. Often they are fixed on the spot and repairs that need more attention are noted so a team with specialist equipment can be sent out.

A total of 18 highway crews are currently out filling potholes each day and a further eight crews are carrying out bigger repairs such as patching larger areas of road.

The damage is caused by water seeping into cracks in the road which expands as it freezes. This causes cracks to open up in the surface. Repeated thawing and freezing during bad weather causes the most damage.

Ian Lake, Surrey County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport, said: "We have repair crews out each day working hard to fix damage to our roads caused by ice, snow and freezing temperatures. We can’t repair all the potholes immediately but we are working as hard as we can to make sure we fix them as quickly as possible. With this in mind I would urge residents to report any potholes they come across to help speed up the repair process."