Rochdale Borough Council’s highways maintenance will be delivered by the council from next month after the service was brought back in-house.

Councillor Danny Meredith, the council’s cabinet member for Highways, hailed the move as the start of a new era of improved service delivery.

From 1 April 2022 responsibility for pothole repairs, gritting, drainage maintenance work and road resurfacing will be delivered by the council.

It follows a councillor decision in 2021 to return the service back within council control, when current provider Balfour Beatty’s contract ends at the end of March 2022.

Councillor Meredith said the move will give the highways service more control and flexibility over how it delivers this vital service.

He said: “We have an ambitious capital programme of road and pothole repairs, community projects, highway resurfacing and much more.

“This is about ensuring a high quality highways service, delivering residents priorities in house, ensuring our ambitious highways programme builds on our existing work, delivering even better, value for money projects across the community.

“I am proud of our borough’s pioneering spirit and this is in line with our co-operative values, putting the community at the heart of service delivery, creating more jobs and provide an opportunity for small and medium sized businesses to work in partnership with us.

“It is a new era for highways investment bringing many benefits for residents and businesses and ensuring community priorities are at the heart of our service delivery.”

Councillor Meredith added that the move will open up opportunities for small local companies to work in partnership with the council on its highways improvement programme.