More than 13,000 potholes filled in Staffordshire in £5m scheme - WATCH

Staffordshire County Council has announced a £5 million investment to combat the problem in the next year – one of the biggest issues facing the county in recent years.

The pothole ‘zapping’ velocity patching machines will work alongside traditional crews to tackle more potholes and carry out wider hotspot patching where there are a number of potholes. The scheme kicked off on Wednesday as the council used the machines to fill in potholes along John Amery Drive in Rising Brook, Stafford.

Councillor Mark Deaville, cabinet member with responsibility for highways and transport, said the drive would help the county council clear the backlog of historical low-risk potholes. He said: “These new machines do small defects, they can do a lot of work in a small amount of time.

“We’ve got a massive road network of more than 6,000km. We all use our roads, they’re essential to all of us. It’s essential we go about our everyday life on the roads as easily and as safely as possible.

“Looking at this backlog of defects enables us to grow the county. It helps the county economy.”

The 18-ton machines work by spraying in materials to fill and cover the pothole. The new investment will see at least 12 additional patching crews on the roads with four velocity patching machines working on the pothole repair backlog, surface dressing and routine maintenance. And on-site Tarmac manufacturing machines will also be introduced to deliver better results by preparing hot Tarmac as it is needed.

Councillor Deaville added: “We always tackle the high-risk potholes as soon as possible and this extra investment will now help us tackle the backlog of lower category, older potholes which are still important to local communities. The machine does a real good quality repair, we’re looking at three, four or five years each time a pothole is filled.” It comes after four cyclists suffered severe injuries after hitting the same pothole on a country road in three weeks last year. The men were travelling on the Gnosall to Norbury Junction Road, near Stafford, on separate rides when each of them hit the crater. Paul Rowlands, Glenn MacDonald-Jones, Antony Grigg and Greg Dancer were all taken to A&E.