Council to trial changes to filling in potholes

Councillors backed proposals to trial areas where all potholes would be filled, rather than just dealing with safety defects

A council has agreed to trial changes to the way it fixes potholes in parts of Devon.

Devon County Council backed proposals to trial areas where all potholes would be filled, rather than just dealing with safety defects, as part of an approved £83m road maintenance programme.

Dan Thomas, the county council's cabinet member for highways, said the state of the roads was not what the council wanted but it was unable to tackle all the issues as it was "grossly under resourced by central government".

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "We are determined to end the pothole plague, which is why Devon County Council is receiving over £83m this year to fix its roads."

It said: "This is just the start - the government will also be investing a further £24bn to upgrade motorways and local roads across the country, delivering lasting infrastructure Britain can rely on."

Thomas said the state of the roads was not being tackled as "quickly as we would like".

"We have a repair backlog of around £390m, and to keep us in a steady state it costs around £102m a year," he said.

The county council said exact details were still to be agreed but a pilot "repair blitz" would be used to establish budget implications of changing maintenance procedures.

It agreed to examine the costs of accelerating the remarking of white lines across the county.

It said about £56m of this year's highway maintenance capital budget would be invested in road maintenance and surface treatments, and the rest would be allocated to bridges and structures, streetlighting, traffic signals, public rights of way and other highways assets.