STRICTER rules for utility companies mending roads they have dug up will hopefully mean less potholes, say county highway chiefs.

Councils have to let power, communication and water companies dig up roads to carry out works, even if they have just been resurfaced.

And under current rules, they only have to guarantee the repair for two years, which highways chief say is a licence to create pot holes.

But now the Government is consulting on a proposal for a five-year guarantee on any road repairs, which highways boses hope wil mean less failed trenches and surface decay.

Cllr Vernon Smith, Cabinet Member for Highways, said: “This is a great idea from the government – and it will make a real difference. 

“Gloucestershire County Council is investing £150m in resurfacing roads across our county – and we would expect that work to last at least five years, if not longer. 

“It is a nonsense that private utility companies can then stick trenches across those roads and only have to make the repair last two years. It means that taxpayers are picking up the bill for their works – and that can’t be right. 

“I will be writing to Chris Grayling, the Secretary of State for Transport, to strongly support this plan.”

Last year, Gloucestershire Council began its £150m scheme to resurface roads across the county in a bid to get rid of potholes, with 108km of county roads resurfaced in its first year.

Since April 2018, it says it has repaired almost 50,000 potholes – with 99 per cent repaired within expected timescales. 

Potholes can be reported at www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/highways