Essex County Council has asked each of the 75 county councillors to submit a top 20 list of the worst potholes in their division meaning a total of 1,500 potholes could be fixed countywide.

The council is using its £2.4 million investment in road repairs to fill the potholes by the spring.

A message sent to councillors about the pothole repair programme said: “We are using the previously announced additional £2.4 million investment in repairs to empower you, as county members working with your districts and parishes, to list your 20 worst carriageway potholes (ten as soon as possible and ten more in the spring) in your division, to get them repaired using a once and done approach.

“This is in addition to our existing asset-led repair approach.”

County councillor Dave Harris (Lab), who represents Berechurch and Shrub End in Colchester, is inviting residents and other borough councillors to list the worst potholes in his area.

Paxman Avenue and Pownall Crescent have cropped up a few times already and the list is growing.

He said: “I am acutely aware there are many more than 20 potholes so I am requesting we work together to make best use of this scheme.

“I’m taking once and done to mean they will repair it once, but do a proper job.

“It’s a good initiative, I understand they are using all of the £2.4 million as there are 75 county councillors.

“Once we have chosen the roads we have to go to the county council website and enter a special code to report each pothole.

“I’m quite happy about it, I wish we got to choose more than 20 but I’m compiling a list and we are working across party lines.”

Hundreds of potholes appeared across the county over the winter month with another hit after the Beast from the East brought more bad weather in March, causing serious damage to the road surfaces.

However, last week the county council also revealed more than 250 miles of Essex roads have been improved over the summer.

Surface dressing techniques were carried out which should future proof the road surface to prevent potholes.

The procedure can only be done in warm, dry weather.

Kevin Bentley, Essex county councillor responsible for infrastructure, said with road resurfacing and other Essex Highways improvements, the number of potholes on main roads has come down from 988 in June to 407.

He added: “I want to make sure that the extra money we’re putting in to pothole repairs is used to maximum effect in each area.

"Not just what engineers think is the safety priority, but the ones that really frustrate people locally.

"That’s why I am asking all Essex county councillors to consult quickly with other local councils and give us their list of local priority potholes.

"We’ll fix them over the next few months with the extra resources we have allocated and, in some cases, with new types of machines, to eliminate the worst problems and help everyone use our roads more safely and smoothly.”

 

•  Do you live near a notoriously bad pothole? Take a photo and send it in to katherine.palmer@newsquest.co.uk with the address and rough size. Don’t put your safety at risk. Do not take a photo if it is dangerous to do so.