EFFORTS are being made by Wiltshire Council to fix potholes on the county’s roads as the clean-up after the recent winter storms Ciara, Dennis and Jorge continues writes Erin Wright.

To repair the damage, the county’s army of 20 parish stewards, who work in local communities to carry out repairs and maintenance, are now solely focused on filling potholes in their community areas until the end of March.

Cllr Bridget Wayman, cabinet member for highways, said: “This winter has been exceptionally wet, and this has seen an increase in potholes in Wiltshire.

“We’re doing all we can to combat this by ensuring all 20 parish stewards focus solely on potholes until the end of March, and using innovative solutions such as the Fast Patch system.

“If people see a pothole on the county’s roads, please report it using the My Wiltshire reporting system through the smartphone app or at www.wiltshire.gov.uk/mywiltshire-online-reporting.

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“Once the weather has improved in the spring, we’ll begin our major maintenance highway surfacing schemes, which will run through the summer.

"This programme will see the worst affected roads being addressed in priority order, based on information from our own inspections, plus input from parish and town councils and area boards.”

This work will support the council’s four two-man pothole teams, who respond to residents’ pothole reports through the My Wiltshire system. When submitted, customer reports are reviewed by the council’s highways team, before being passed on electronically to the pothole teams for repair.

Also on hand to tackle the county’s pothole is Fast Patch, an innovative vehicle that is fitted with a burner that allows asphalt removed from a hole to be reheated on the lorry and recycled, so the material is reused to repair the hole it was removed from.

The council is also investing resources in preventing highways flooding, which in turn will help to prevent potholes. This involves cutting channels into verges to allow water to drain off the highway and into roadside ditches, allowing the water to escape and preventing flooding of the highway.