'Disappointing' Amey will no longer have roads contract

From April roadworks across Gloucestershire will be handled by Ringway Infrastructure Services

A new company will be tasked with filling in Gloucestershire's potholes, after the previous contractor was described as "incredibly disappointing".

Amey was responsible for road repairs, gritting and grass cutting in the county.

The £245m roadworks contract, which begins in April, has been given to Ringway Infrastructure Services.

Amey said it had not bid for the renewed contract.

Klara Sudbury, a Liberal Democrat county councillor, welcomed the appointment.

She said: "The experience with Amey has been incredibly disappointing, with repeated complaints over the quality of the work and potholes having to be filled over and over again.

"Our county, and the tax-paying public, deserves roads and pavements that we can use without worrying about broken suspension, flat tyres, or injury."

Amey, which also holds the contract to collect and sort Gloucester's kerbside waste, was criticised in June after it emerged it had "lost" the equivalent of 150 bin lorries of waste that was due to be recycled, valued at £60 per tonne, costing Gloucester City Council £246,059.

Council 'confident'

The new contract will mean Ringway could work on the county's 3,300 miles of road up until 2030.

Vernon Smith, cabinet member for highways at the council, said: "Throughout the process Ringway impressed on all fronts and I'm confident they will do a great job keeping our roads and verges maintained."

Ringway delivers similar services for Worcestershire, where they've worked for more than 13 years, as well as Wiltshire and Highways England in the South West.

Amey said it was: "Fully committed to providing a high quality service to the county and its communities until the end of the contract."