New 'hotbox' vehicles deployed to repair potholes

Staff in the County Council's highways team work all year around to repair potholes

New "roadmender" vehicles have been deployed across Leicestershire in a bid to make pothole repairs more efficient.

The five vehicles, known as hotboxes, cost about £750,000 in total and include digital technology which allows good-quality repairs to be made at several locations every day.

Leicestershire County Council says the roadmenders will replace older vehicles and will repair thousands of potholes and defects across 2,575 miles (4144km) of county roads.

The hotbox roadmenders keep asphalt being used to repair potholes warm and workable, so it is in the best condition to repair roads.

Tom Vesty, highways works manager at Leicestershire County Council, said: "We hope these vehicles will be running for the next five or six years and the hotbox on the back of the vehicle means that the tarmac can reach a decent temperature all day.

"Because we're aware of our carbon footprint, we use cooler tarmac.

"Keeping it warm is even more important."

At the side of the new vehicles is a new hydraulic skip bucket which makes it easy for waste to be disposed of.

In 2024, Leicestershire County Council says it repaired 8,764 road repairs, averaging around 168 jobs a week.