Pothole spotters aim to speed up road repairs

Councillor McLean said Kidlington had become a "bit of a black hole" for reporting - but hoped that would now improve

Parish councillors armed with spray paint cans have been marking problem areas on their roads to get them fixed more quickly.

The four Kidlington Parish Council volunteers have joined 150 "superusers" who use a website to report defects across Oxfordshire.

They include the parish council's leader and Cherwell district councillor, Lesley McLean, who said a lack of reporting had left the village as a "bit of a black hole" for reporting.

Potholes and other defects cost Oxfordshire County Council about £230,000 in compensation paid to road users in 2023/24.

New FixMyStreet superusers, including Councillor McLean (second from the right) can prioritise repairs

Councillor McLean said she hoped more interest in FixMyStreet, where residents can report problems to be fixed, helped to speed up response times.

“Our residents can be reassured that the report they make on FixMyStreet will be prioritised through local superusers, where the criteria is met," she said.

"We look forward to getting stuck in with our spray cans and doing our bit to make our roads safer."

The county council maintains all of the roads in Oxfordshire, other than in Oxford, where the city council is in charge.

Any resident can apply to be a superuser on FixMyStreet.

The annual local authority road maintenance (ALARM) survey report, released by Asphalt Industry Alliance in March, found work worth £16.3bn was needed to tackle the maintenance backlog on roads in England and Wales.

Councillor Andrew Gant, Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for transport management, said he was grateful to the work of the volunteers and said: “Their local knowledge, enthusiasm and hard work are helping us to resolve potholes, kerbing and drainage issues more quickly and efficiently.

"I would like to thank them for their efforts and invite more people to join them in improving the situation on the streets where they live.”