KIRKLEES council has launched a campaign to rid the entire borough’s roads of potholes.

Following the worst winter in 18 years the council has sent out more teams than ever to scan 19,000km of roads for the suspension-breaking holes.

Since yesterday 12 teams are out marking up potholes ready for repair.

They are being followed by 12 potholing crews – more than the 10 announced last week.

Normally just two crews survey the borough’s highways in the council’s routine end of winter road damage assessment.

This year council workers will also be surveying and repairing side streets which were gritted this winter.

Potholes are often caused in cold weather by a process called ‘frost shattering’.

Water enters gaps in the surface of the road. It then freezes and expands causing the tarmac to crack.

The potholes will be repaired by sweeping out the loose debris, spraying a layer of adhesive into the hole and adding tarmac which is then compacted using portable vibrating plate.

This repair works on the majority of potholes, as long as they are deeper than a few centimetres.

The team of inspectors will be driving slowly with amber lights on and Highways Maintenance stickers.

Drivers are asked to be patient if they get behind any of the inspectors.

The repairs are expected to last four weeks.

Certain roads which are on the list to be resurfaced will not be repaired as work is already scheduled for them.

Clr David Sheard, Cabinet joint member for highways and transportation, said: “We know that potholes follow bad weather, but that doesn’t mean we can’t pull out all the stops to fix them.

“We had a plan well in advance of the bad weather for repairing the roads, we have stepped up that plan following worse than predicted weather.”

You can report potholes by calling Kirklees Highways: 0800 731 8765 or emailing highways.ross@kirklees.gov.uk

l The RAC today urged the Government to make emergency funds available for local authorities to repair their roads.

The breakdown service says it wants a fairer balance between the amount motorists pay in tax and how much is spent on road repairs.

An RAC survey out today found of the £28bn paid to the Treasury each year in fuel duty and road tax, only £5bn was spent maintaining the entire country’s road network.

And of that, only £653m is granted to councils for maintaining their own roads.

But the money does not have to be spent on roads, the RAC said.