Council repairs more than 600 potholes in four weeks

By thepickler | Wednesday, March 03, 2010, 16:01

MORE than 600 potholes on roads across North Somerset have been repaired in the last month.

North Somerset Council has spent £60,000 on repairing the hundreds of potholes which have appeared on the roads following the recent bad weather.

Since the last spell of icy weather at the end of January, contractors have been filling an average of 30 potholes a day.

The number of inspections being carried out by the authority's highway team has also doubled over the past several weeks.

North Somerset Council spokesman, Richard Turner, said: "The condition of our roads has suffered as a result of the long periods of freezing weather we have had recently.

"Around £60,000 has already been ploughed into fixing badly damaged stretches of road.

"We are sending teams to the worst affected areas to get repairs done as quickly as possible.

"From the end of the worst weather in January there have been around 30 potholes a day repaired across North Somerset with teams focusing on the busy main roads first.

"However, as fast as we are repairing potholes others are appearing."

The authority is responsible for more than 800 miles of roads across the district and this year has spent £3.6 million on North Somerset's highways.

Potholes are caused when water runs into hairline cracks in the road surface and freezes, forcing the cracks further apart.

Highway authorities across the country are facing similar problems after road surfaces were weakened by the cold weather before Christmas, with problems made worse when snow hit early in the New Year.

The number of potholes being reported to North Somerset Council has risen substantially following the cold weather.