A NEW way of repairing potholes is to be rolled out across Shropshire.

An innovative way of repairing Shropshire’s potholes more quickly, quietly and effectively is to be rolled out across the county following a successful trial in Whitchurch and Market Drayton, in August.

The work will be carried out overnight on the county's urban roads, with the aim to help minimise disruption to residents, businesses and road users.

Steve Davenport, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for highways and transport, emphasised the need to undertake the repair work as quickly and efficiently as possible.

"No one likes potholes and we want to repair them as quickly, efficiently and effectively as we can," Mr Davenport said.

"The trial in Whitchurch and Market Drayton was a big success and showed a fall in the time it takes to repair a pothole, and also a fall in the cost of the repair.

"I’m delighted that we can now roll this new process out across the county."

The focus will be on repairing a large number of potholes at a rate of around 40 per night – the current rate is around 20 per week.

Under the new process, potholes are cleaned out, filled with a unique material called Texpatch, then covered with a neat, square patch providing a longer-lasting, smoother, neater finish compared to traditional pothole repairs.

Texpatch also seals up all joints, which should result in an increased life span for the repair.

It is hoped that using this process for treating urban potholes will also free up crews to tackle potholes in more rural areas.

The work is also much quieter than traditional repairs, as it doesn’t require the use of mechanical tools – other than the air hose which will be used to clean out debris from the defect – so it can be carried out at night.

And night working allows more work to be carried out as there is less traffic.

Likewise, the process is so quick it’s classed as mobile works and therefore traffic management won’t be needed for the vast majority of the repairs, reducing disruption and inconvenience to road users while work is carried out.

The work is aimed at reducing safety defects, but in the future could also target minor defects not usually rectified under Shropshire Council’s highway safety inspection manual.

This will help in preventing future potholes appearing as part of a proactive treatment.

Potholes are to be treated in a number of villages and towns across the county, including Whitchurch, Wem, Oswestry, Gobowen and Llanymynech to name just a few.