Transport Secretary Mark Harper was given a live demonstration of a machine made in Staffordshire which is helping fix the scourge of potholes on Britain’s roads.
The senior government minister was shown the JCB Pothole Pro during a visit to the company’s engine plant. He saw for himself how the machine repairs a pothole in less than eight minutes – four times quicker than standard methods.
The demonstration came just days after the company, which has its world headquarters in Rocester, Staffordshire, announced it had won its biggest order yet for 50 Pothole Pros from one of the country’s largest hirers, Dawsongroup, for deployment with councils up and down the country.
Mark Harper said: “Potholes is an issue that gets raised a lot by my constituents and raised with me as Secretary of State by lots of colleagues in Parliament and that is why we put in place £5 billion over this spending review period, specifically for local authorities to pay for local road resurfacing, including pothole maintenance.
“It means they should take the time and the trouble to think about how effectively they’re going to turn that money into improved roads and innovative solutions, like the one we’ve seen here with the Pothole Pro.”
Local authority data shows the JCB Pothole Pro can complete a pothole repair in less than eight minutes, four times quicker than standard methods and equivalent to 700 potholes per month.
Among the local authorities already using the machines are Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Staffordshire County Council.
