Coronavirus: Denbighshire road repairs hit 'for years to come'

Thunderstorms in August have added to the backlog, the report says

The knock-on effects of the coronavirus pandemic will affect road maintenance for years, according to a council report.

Workers were dealing with the aftermath of February's storms when lockdown restrictions hit repairs, the Denbighshire highways report has said.

The pandemic has meant that "virtually no maintenance work" has since been possible.

"The recent thunderstorms have only added to this backlog," it said.

Several storms, including Storm Dennis in February and Storm Francis earlier this month, have left a trail of damage.

The report to the authority's communities scrutiny committee said "things have been slow in terms of returning to normal levels of operation" despite lockdown easing.

• Lightning strikes house and other homes flooded

• Power cuts and flash flooding after thunder

"With social distancing restrictions likely to be in place for the foreseeable future, it would appear that some operations may remain difficult for some time," it said.

"Our reduced ability to maintain the network as normal this year will have implications for years to come."Progress is being made... but we are not making the smooth progress that we would like."

The report said it was also planning "additional measures to mitigate against the impact of a second wave of Covid-19 on our ability to deliver winter maintenance".