£824,000 to fix Derbyshire potholes

From next week, external contractors are being brought in to help clear the backlog of urgent repairs caused by flooding and winter weather.

Councillor Simon Spencer, Derbyshire County Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for highways and transport, said: “The number of potholes reported by the public and noted on routine inspections continues to rise.

“People tell us good quality roads are important to them and we’ve already increased the number of our own staff out there to reduce the backlog of repairs.

“But it’s clear we need to take extra action to improve the quality of our roads.”

As well as appointing external contractors to fix problems on the roads, the county council is hiring a “JetPatcher” – a specialist machine which uses a high velocity air stream to clear existing holes of any debris and water as well as laying and compacting new asphalt.

The £824,000 shot-in-the arm is expected to fund extra repairs for two months.

A further £4 million has already been made available by the Government to target winter damage on Derbyshire’s roads during the next two years.