Pothole Busters hit the streets with high speed technology

Hampshire's Pothole Busters teams will be back in force across the county tackling the damage left in the road surfaces by the severe winter.

Extra resources have been brought in and there are now 50 gangs busting potholes all over Hampshire.

Pothole Busters will be using a range of techniques including hot patching which is used for larger areas, verge repairs which are carried out by infilling with compacted limestone and topsoil; and jetpatching. A jetpatcher is a high speed patching machine which is effective in places with numerous defects and can fix up to 2000 potholes in a week. It works by blasting potholes with hot air to remove debris and then spraying in a mixture of bitumen and aggregate under pressure which fills and seals it. The whole process takes only a few minutes and the road is ready for traffic immediately afterwards.

While it may be necessary to carry out temporary repairs in some places to make the road safe again, the majority of repairs carried out will be permanent and will use ‘hot' material, which generally produces much better results.

Councillor Ken Thornber, Leader of Hampshire County Council, said: "The impact of this exceptionally severe winter with very cold temperatures, snow and ice, and then melting snow and rain has been undeniably damaging to our roads. Clearly, we will need to look at our plans and budget in light of this but our immediate priority is to make the roads safe and useable again and this is why we have brought in extra resources to fix the worst of the problems as quickly as possible.

"Once we have done this, we will look at how we can restore our road network, and get a better idea of how long this will take and how much it will cost. In Hampshire, we recognise the importance of our roads and use our finances and resources across the whole network, whether these roads serve large urban centres or smaller rural communities.

"The weather has left defects all over the county, and the length of time it takes to permanently repair each one will depend on the size and location of the pothole. Owing to higher speed limits and narrower road widths on many rural roads, it may be necessary to temporarily close the road while work is being carried out. I appreciate this may cause some inconvenience but would like to reassure people that we will complete the work quickly, safely and efficiently. Looking after Hampshire's roads is one of our main priorities and we will continue to do all we can to ensure our roads are safe and well maintained."

Residents can report faults, including potholes and roadside defects by filling in an online form which can be found at www.hants.gov.uk/roads, where residents can then track progress of their report online. Alternatively, defects can be reported to: 0845 603 5633

Pothole Busters work is being carried out by Amey, the County Council's highways maintenance contractor. Amey also carries out a range of highways maintenance work for the County Council including sorting out drainage problems, vegetation encroachment, maintaining pavements, and ensuring road signs are clear and visible.

Some of the Pothole Busters gangs with Councillor Kendal

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