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United Kingdom
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Key definition
Highway authority definition

What does Highway authority mean? In legal practice, a highway authority is the public body responsible for maintaining and managing the public highway network. In England and Wales it is defined in legislation, chiefly the Highways Act 1980: county councils, metropolitan district and London borough councils are highway authorities for most roads; Transport for London is highway authority for certain London roads; the strategic highways company (National Highways), under the Infrastructure Act 2015, is highway authority for motorways and trunk roads in England, and the Welsh Ministers for trunk roads in Wales. Key features include the section 41 duty to maintain highways maintainable at public expense...

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Highway authority defences under the Highways Act 1980: section 58, inspection regimes, post-inspection action, contractors and statutory undertakers, and common law (England and Wales)

Practice notes
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Statutory defence—section 58

The claimant bears the onus of proving a breach of section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 (HiA 1980), namely the duty to maintain the highway. If that breach is made out, the Highway authority may invoke a statutory defence by showing it exercised such care as was reasonable, having regard to all the circumstances, to make the relevant part of the highway safe. For that defence, the burden of proof rests with the defendant accordingly...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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