People in Lichfield and Burntwood have been urged to play their part in helping to ensure a £2.2million boost to pothole repairs is well spent.
Staffordshire County Council has received the additional cash from the Government to help tackle the rise in potholes following the recent spell of freezing weather.
But Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant said it was important residents kept the council aware of where roads were worst affected.
“The Government has awarded an extra £2.2million to Staffordshire to repair roads damaged by prolonged freezing weather – this is on top of the extra £5 million already allocated by the county,” the Conservative MP said. “But it is essential that Staffordshire Highways and Transport know where all the potholes are.
“I urge people to download the myStaffs app. Used in conjunction with a phone’s camera and GPS, it can automatically send a picture of the pothole to Staffordshire Highways with an accurate location.
“Local people need to let the County know where these potholes are as there are thousands of miles of roads and lanes in the county and officials can’t be expected to know the state of them all at once as the tarmac conditions constantly change.”
More bad weather is expected over Easter and Cllr Helen Fisher, Cabinet support member for highways and transport, said it was essential highways were repaired wherever possible.
“Good roads are important not only for getting us from A to B, but for continuing to grow a strong economy,” she said.
“In Staffordshire, we will have invested an extra £10million over two years both in tackling potholes and in preventative treatment to help stop them occurring in the first place. Last year this allowed us to fix around, 35,000 potholes compared to 20,000 in a typical year.
“However, with a county the size of Staffordshire this is always going to be a challenge and the prolonged ice and even snow in March has created even more potholes, so I am pleased that the Government has recognised the impact of the recent severe weather by announcing this extra funding.”
