Blitz on potholes mends 4,500 in just two months

County council bosses ordered a blitz on winter-damaged highways at the end of February backed by £500,000 to tackle the worst-hit areas. They now say the end of the work is in sight, with 90 per cent of the work completed. Although filling in will continue throughout the rest of the year, the special repair programme is expected to return to normal by the end of the month.

Up to the end of April, crews had repaired 4,500 potholes compared to around 2,900 in the same period in 2012 – an increase of 55 per cent.

Twenty crews have been assigned to the task, covering every borough and district area.

Staffordshire County Council leader Philip Atkins said the teams had been highly effective, working flat-out to tackle as many potholes as they could, as quickly as possible.

Hundreds of potholes have been repaired on roads in Stafford, Rugeley, Great Wyrley, Cannock, Cheslyn Hay and Codsall.

Before the Easter weekend, crews repaired more than 60 potholes in one day alone. Roads tackled include Wolverhampton Road in Cannock, Rugeley Road in Burntwood, Lower Penkridge Road in Acton Trussell and Westway, Stafford.

More than 4,000 potholes were reported after one of the worst winters in recent history. It was officially the coldest winter, measured by average temperatures, since 1740. And it has been followed by the coldest spring in 50 years, with snow and blizzards continuing until the end of March.

The repeated freeze-thaw process weakened the road surface. Traffic passing over the affected road then ruptured it, causing potholes to appear. Some of these then become flooded with melting ice, making them bigger when the water froze and expanded.

With the county council responsible for more than 3,700 miles of highways, Mr Atkins said the repair programme has been a mammoth task.

"The bad winter really did take its toll on our roads which is why we decided to increase investment to help tackle the potholes causing the most problems," he said.