Most roads in the UK are adopted by National Highways, which means it has a responsibility to maintain them under the Highways Act 1980.

National Highways is responsible for maintaining adopted main roads – motorways and major A roads – and local authorities manage the smaller, local roads. Adopted roads can be owned privately or by a council or highways authority, but they must be built to the local authority’s standards. 

However, there are some roads that aren’t adopted and these are known as unadopted roads.

What is an unadopted road? 

An unadopted road is a road which doesn’t fall under the responsibility of the local authority and so is therefore not maintained at public expense. Local authorities are under no obligation to clean or repair an unadopted road, even if it’s a public right of way.

Unadopted roads are sometimes owned by a person or organisation, but ownership is usually linked to whoever owns the adjoining land. However, just because they own and pay for the upkeep of the unadopted road doesn’t mean they can obstruct it – for example, by putting a gate across it. 

When it comes to access, some unadopted roads are highways which everyone has a right to pass over and others are private roads, which only some people have a right of access over. 

Who’s responsible for unadopted road maintenance?

Unadopted roads are maintained privately, usually by the owners of the adjoining land or any properties fronting the road – known as ‘frontagers’.

Although it’s not the responsibility of the local authority to maintain the road, Section 230 of the Highways Act 1980 says that the local authority can order the frontagers to repair the road in the event that said repairs are needed to “obviate danger to traffic”.

Alternatively, the council can also carry out the work on the road themselves and then invoice the frontagers for the cost. 

Repairing unadopted roads

Because they’re not regularly maintained by local authorities, unadopted roads can end up in a bad condition with poor drainage, potholes and no street lighting if their owners don’t keep up maintenance. 

If this does happen, they can become unsafe for road users because the condition of the road could cause damage to vehicles or even cause a collision. 

At Minster, we’re on hand to support with unadopted road resurfacing and can handle every stage of the repair – from surveying through to line marking. We’re also available 24/7 for emergency road repairs, to make sure any damage is sorted as soon as possible. 

Not only this, but we’re at the cutting edge of innovation and are committed to achieving the best road repair results safely, quickly and with minimal impact on the environment. To do this, we use the latest waste reduction strategies and recycling technology to cut our carbon footprint, eliminate waste and reduce reliance on quarrying and crude oil. 

We are one of the first companies in the UK to be using Foambase technology from OCL Regeneration, to produce a foamed bitumen product that’s made from recycled materials including asphalt, concrete and rubble. The technology even allows us to recycle material containing coal-tar – isn’t that ‘tar’-rific?

Each year, our use of Foambase saves 391.7 tonnes of CO2 from being produced – that’s the equivalent of taking 190 cars off the road or grounding 486 flights from London to New York.

So, if you’re held responsible for an unadopted road and want to extend its lifespan in a sustainable manner, why not get in touch? We’d love to hear from you!