KCC spends millions fixing potholes across the county

Kent County Council is spending £5.2 million filling potholes before the colder months ahead.

The pothole blitz started in April and in an unprecedented move, is due to run until Christmas if the weather remains good during October and November

To date this year, KCC has spent £2.7 million, patching 66,800m2 and filling an equivalent 133,600 individual potholes on a road network of over 5,000 miles.

KCC has contracted the work out to local companies in the districts to ensure quicker response times to reports of problems.

The companies are O’Rourke Contracting in Dartford and Gravesham; SCG Kent Ltd in Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells; Dukes Contractors Ltd in Tonbridge and Malling and Maidstone; Amey LG in Swale and Canterbury; Steadline Ltd in Ashford and Shepway; and A R Cook Contracting in Thanet and Dover.

KCC cabinet member for highways Matthew Balfour said: “Potholes are one of the biggest bugbears for our residents and remain one of our top priorities each year.

“We’ve got local crews working on filling potholes who know their areas and this year we’ve extended the scheme up until Christmas to ensure our roads are ready for the winter months ahead.”

Last year, KCC repaired 20,673 potholes and patched 136,633m2 of roads.

Mr Balfour added: “People often assume these are quick and temporary fixes but I can assure you these are not. We do a quality, first time fix, and do not expect to be back out again fixing the same pothole.

“All this work isn’t to suggest we don’t need people’s help in reporting potholes. We can’t be everywhere all the time and so I’d encourage people to go online and report potholes so we can arrange for them to be filled.”