Road repairs are being stepped up by Derbyshire County Council to deal with damage caused by heavy rain in recent weeks.
Extra staff have been drafted in to drive along the county’s most important routes – around 1,500 miles – to find and fix dangerous potholes.
Councillor Simon Spencer, Deputy Leader of Derbyshire County Council and Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, said: “There’s no doubt our roads have taken a battering.
“Heavy and persistent rain washed away road surfaces in some areas, turning potholes into craters.
“Days of continuous rain meant we couldn’t get out there to keep on top of the repairs and this means our roads are in a pretty bad way.
“That’s why we’re surveying all our priority routes to identify dangerous defects and make them safe.”
All emergency repairs along these routes are expected to be complete by early next week.
The county council is changing the way it deals with day-to-day pothole repairs in line with the latest Government advice following a national review.
It recommends that councils should aim to reduce the number of temporary quick fixes in favour of longer-term repairs. These repairs will take longer but will be permanent and higher quality.
Dangerous potholes and any potholes found on A roads – the county’s major roads – will continue to be fixed as soon as possible within a few hours, and no longer than 32 hours.
Potholes and other potentially dangerous problems reported by the public will be repaired within five days.
Less urgent problems identified by the county council on B and C roads will be carried out within five working days and on the rest of Derbyshire’s roads – those carrying the least traffic – within 28 days.
Councillor Spencer said: “Better planning means we can carry out a higher number of permanent repairs first time round instead of a temporary fix.
“By reducing the amount of times we have to revisit a problem area to carry out the same repairs again and again, we’ll save money.
“And by carrying out a number of repairs in the same area at the same time, we can make tax-payers’ cash go further by saving on time and fuel.”
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