Plymouth City Council has announced plans to bolster its pothole repair scheme.

£4.5 million has been assigned to help tackle pothole repairs in the city. The money will be used to fix potholes more quickly as well as to invest in new repair methods.

New methods 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.


The move comes as similar trials were carried out this week by Milestone Infrastructure on behalf of Oxfordshire County Council. Their trial involved the testing of a range of new repair methods across a 1km stretch of road.

Commenting on the new anti-pothole measures, 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."