MORE than 30,000 potholes have been filled as part of £11million investment to fix roads in Essex.

Essex County Council is splashing the cash to repair the county’s roads after extreme weather has left them in a poor state.

The money is being used to fix the worst potholes and also carry out strengthening work to the roads in a bid to prevent future problems.

Tens of thousands of potholes have already been fixed as 30 groups of engineers have been operating across Essex to complete the massive undertaking.

Contractors are using jet patchers – a high pressured patching system - to carry out the repairs quickly and reduce disruption to traffic.

Essex Highways is closely monitoring the effectiveness of repairs to determine how they will be carried out in future.

County councillor Derrick Louis, cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: “We are making some excellent progress using our £11m investment in pothole repairs. The hard work does not end here, and our dedicated pothole gangs are continuing to carry out repairs across the county.

“Warning signs are being used to give notice of where repair work is about to, or has recently taken place. For safety purposes I would ask residents to please take notice of these signs and any temporary speed restrictions.”

Residents can report potholes and find out where repairs are taking place by visiting www.essex.gov.uk/highways.