The preferred bidder for a contract that will fix every single pot-holed street and cracked stretch of pavement in the London Borough of Hounslow has been announced.

The council's preferred bidder for the 25-year, £800 million PFI contract, which will give a massive makeover to the borough's 259 miles of road and 458 miles of pavements, is Vinci Ringway.

A business case will be submitted to the Department for Transport (DfT) for approval in April. Once this is approved in the summer, the contract will be signed and preparations will begin in July to start work in January 2013.

-- Advertisement --

The first five years of the contract, which is due to start in January 2013, will see Vinci Ringway make an initial investment of £100 million to upgrade the road network. This will then be maintained to the improved standard for the rest of the contract.

The deal will include upgrading and improving roads, pavements, street lights, street cleaning, signs, street furniture such as benches and bollards, as well as drains and gutters across the borough.

As part of the arrangement, 200 London Borough of Hounslow staff will transfer across to Vinci Ringway through TUPE arrangements to the preferred provider.

Funding for the scheme follows a successful bid for a Government grant of approximately £14m a year for 25 years from the DfT, with the London Borough of Hounslow funding the rest of the contract payments.

(CD/GK)