Pothole repairs have been given a major financial boost after Council Leader Tudor Evans released money to the highways maintenance budget.

The new administration pledged to prioritise investing in repairing more of the city’s potholes more quickly and the £4.5m capital budget and maintenance programme has been realigned to release money to tackle potholes using more innovative and cost-effective repair techniques.

These include spray-injection patching which repairs a pothole in just a couple of minutes and because it applies cold bitumen aggregate, the road can be driven on immediately.

In addition, a new ‘Patch and Dress’ technique is being trialled on residential roads, if successful, the process will help minimise the amount of excavation required and result in potholes being filled quicker, with less impact on the local area.

Councillor Tudor Evans, Leader of Plymouth City Council, said: “I know that the state of our roads and pavements is a huge concern for people in Plymouth, it dominates my inbox. We have promised to do all we can to carry out repairs and keep our city moving, the budget allocations support this commitment. 

“However, the Council is facing significant financial challenges. Due to pressures such as inflation, huge increases in gas and electricity bills and rising demand for critical social care services, we need to be smart about how we spend the money we have available.

“We have already previewed our velocity machine trial – and over the weeks and months ahead we will use even more innovative approaches not just to repair potholes, but also replace missing road markings, fix broken pavements, clear drains and mend road-signs.

“We are committed to doing all we can to improve our roads. We know there are problems, and we will do all we can to fix them.”