Skanska has secured a highways term maintenance contract with Devon County Council.

The seven-year deal will begin on 01 April 2017 and has an option to extend the contract by a further three years.

The council's current maintenance contract with South West Highways (SWH), which covers routine, reactive, emergency and planned highway maintenance work, will expire at the end of March 2017.

However, the Colas/Eurovia joint venture has now been appointed as Plymouth City Council's new highways maintenance contractor and will take over from Amey in 2017.

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Skanska's proposals to secure its deal included a range of initiatives to tackle potholes, job creation for Devon residents, introduction of an efficiency and performance manager, an affordability review every three years to target investment, and improved communications.

Devon County Council said it is expected a large number of current SWH employees will be able to transfer over to Skanska under new legislation to protect workers when work passes to a new contractor.

Councillor Stuart Hughes said: "This is a very significant contract for the County Council and we believe we have secured the best solution, with a focus on price and quality. We want to ensure the new contract provides value for money as well as providing a good service to Devon's communities and users of our 8,000 mile highway network."

(LM/JP)