Report a problem on a road or pavement

Thank you for your patience while we introduce our new customer service systems. We're making these changes to improve how we manage enquiries and to provide a better service to you.

We aim to:

• review and deal with issues in priority order
• attend the most hazardous situations to repair or make safe within 32 hours
• resolve most enquiries within 28 days, though, regrettably, some complex enquiries may take longer
• keep you up-to-date when resolution is taking longer than expected
• inform you when the matter is complete or no further action is required

Sometimes we may:

• not be able to action or resolve your enquiry
• need to refer enquiries or issues to third parties outside of the council

In these instances, we should check, tell you when we do this and explain why.

Please note:

• street lighting maintenance is provided by 'Enerveo' on behalf of the council and different service level agreements may apply
• traffic signal maintenance (permanent signal and crossings sites only, not including temporary signals) is provided by 'Yunex Traffic' on behalf of the council and different service level agreements may apply

We are currently unable to provide our usual online enquiry tracking service while we make improvements to our systems. We are also aware that some automated customer emails are not being sent as they should. We are really sorry, and are working to restore all this functionality as soon as possible.

If you have submitted an enquiry online, you should receive a reference number. Please keep a note of this.

Please be assured that enquiries will continue to be processed as normal during this period and in line with our published customer service standards.

Need information about an existing enquiry?

If you need an update on your enquiry, please contact: [email protected]

Please include any reference numbers you have available to help us respond more quickly, but please note that enquiry tracking is not available for all our services, including street lighting faults.

Our customer promise tells you the level of service you can expect from us.

When you're unhappy with our service

It's best to let us try and resolve the situation first, before escalating a complaint.

If you have reported something and given us the chance to rectify the situation, but you feel we've fallen short of our commitments to you, you may be entitled to make a complaint.

Damage and personal injuries

If you have suffered damage to your property, vehicle or sustained a personal injury because of a defect on one of our roads, footways or rights of way, you may want to make a claim.

The council is responsible for handling enquiries on highways maintained at public expense; including public roads, pavements and verges in the Dorset Council area.

Roads in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

Dorset Council is not responsible for roads, pavements and verges in the unitary authority of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council.

You must contact BCP Council if you need to report or enquire something about these roads.

Trunk roads

The council is not responsible for trunk roads.

National Highways are responsible for the A31, A35 west of Bere Regis and the A303 at Bourton.

You must contact National Highways if you need to report or enquire something about these roads.

Private roads

The council is not responsible for private (unadopted) roads.

If there is a problem on a private road, you will need to identify the landowner(s) and report it to them.