MOTORISTS in Ludlow and south Shropshire can look forward to a less bumpy ride in the future but a lot more needs doing.

This is according to the Council that says that it is making inroads into the county’s pothole crisis.

More than 6,800 potholes and other defects have been repaired in the Shropshire Council area since the start of May 2021, latest figures show.

As part of efforts to improve the county’s roads, crews from Shropshire Council and its contractor Kier are out across the county every day tackling potholes in a variety of ways.

Methods used include jet-patching using the county’s four Roadmaster vehicles, Texpatching in town centres and residential areas; and patching using the new Mulithog road planner.

Under this process, potholes are cleaned out, filled with a unique material called

Texpatch, then covered with a neat, square patch. According to the Council this will provide a longer-lasting, smoother, neater finish compared to traditional pothole repairs, and seals up all joints, which should result in an increased life span for the repair.

Using this process for treating urban potholes will also free up crews to tackle potholes in rural areas.

More traditional repairs by gangs are also carried out.

“As I’ve said before, many of our roads are in poor condition and in need of improvement,” said Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s cabinet member for highways.

“I use the county’s roads and I’ve seen for myself the large number of potholes and other defects. Indeed, I was recently in north east Shropshire and will visit sites in south Shropshire to see the issues first-hand, and to see the work that is being carried out to improve our roads.

““I know there are a lot of potholes and other defects in need of attention, right across the county, but we’re working hard to tackle them and to make the county’s roads safer for all road users, as these figures show.

“There are still many more potholes to treat, but repairing nearly 7,000 in less than three months is a notable achievement.”