New Shropshire pothole team to launch within months

Shropshire Council is to launch a third in-house pothole filling team within the next few months, speeding up the process of repairing roads.

New council leader Heather Kidd has made improving the state of Shropshire's roads one of her top priorities, external within the first 100 days in power.

Her new Liberal Democrat administration said road maintenance over the past 20 years had not been good enough.

But the group, which took control of the council following local elections earlier this month, admitted that the previous Conservative administration had begun the process of launching a third team.

The poor state of the county's roads was an issue raised by residents across the county in the lead up to elections on 1 May.

"People have been complaining about potholes time and time again and often repairs have not been good quality," said Lib Dem councillor David Vasmer, the new portfolio holder for Highways and Environment at Shropshire Council.

"There is a huge backlog and catching up will be an enormous job."

Mr Vasmer said the council was not putting a target on the number of potholes it intends to fill, but hopes residents will see "a bit of a difference" in key areas, like roundabouts and junctions.

More than 41,600 potholes were filled in 2023, with half being carried out within five days of being reported.

Shropshire Council is funding its new team using some of the £33m it received from government last year to improve the county's road network.

Council highways contractors Kier and Multivo are also part of the multi-agency effort to maintain Shropshire's 3,200 miles of roads.

Kier's contract, which has been worth about £28m a year since 2017, will end next April, following a 12-month extension.