Roadworks have begun to fill some of the 22 potholes seen along Epsom High Street earlier this month.

The Epsom Guardian carried out an inspection of the road surface in the town centre and found numerous potholes, including one that was 24 foot long.

In a recent AA survey, almost a third of drivers said their vehicles had been damaged by an epidemic of potholes nationwide.

A section of the road was resurfaced last week and this week Surrey County Council is discussing plans to step up pothole inspections by 200 per cent.

Surrey’s busiest roads are currently inspected four times a year but this could increase to once a month.

This new proposal follows the launch of Operation Horizon, a £100 million investment into replacing the county’s worst roads over the next year's five years.

Councillor John Furey, the council's cabinet member for transport, said: "We make more temporary pothole repairs than we would like at the moment.

"This clearly isn’t the most efficient way to work.

"It also means if workers discover other problems with a road when they are on site, they often don’t have time to fix them on the spot.

"These new proposals would help us address this."

The council said its two-hour deadline for responding to potholes and other defects that pose a serious safety risk would remain in place.

Tony Corbett, who has been driving a taxi in Epsom for five years, thinks potholes in the town have been getting progressively worse.

He said: "There are lots of them but I know where they are.

"They usually take about a year to be fixed."

Diane Smith, 55, a homecarer for the elderly in Epsom and Ewell, uses her car six days a week.

She said: "The potholes are pretty bad along the main roads. I have just had four new tyres put on my car."

John Scott, who has lived in Epsom for 46 years, attributes poor road conditions to bad weather and the rise in popularity of 4x4 vehicles, pointing out that many weigh double a normal car.

The AA's president, Edmund King, said ring-fenced finance must be found to plug the increasing gap in highway budgets, otherwise drivers and local authorities will end up paying more to repair damage that could have been prevented.