A ‘FIGHTBACK’ has officially begun against Somerset’s pothole pandemic after one of the Westcountry’s wettest winters on record.

Somerset Council said extra teams and machinery had been mobilised since the early part of the year to deal with a ‘huge increase’ in potholes and other defects during the past winter.

It said 19,277 potholes were logged this year up to May 8, compared to 11,908 in the same period last year, nearly a 62 per cent increase.

Of those reported this year, 15,771 had now been repaired by the council’s contractor, Kier, at an average rate of 876 per week.

In March alone, 4,964 potholes were repaired.

Additionally, nearly nine million square feet of road had been surface dressed this year.

Surface dressing is a key preventative treatment which extends the life span of the road surface and is crucial to help stop potholes forming.

Meanwhile, a major ongoing programme this year has so far seen 334,000 sq ft of road resurfaced, including the A38 between Wellington and Taunton.

Somerset executive Cllr Richard Wilkins said: “There is always more to do, but this is a great effort by all concerned.

“It was incredibly daunting at the start of the year with the situation described as a pothole pandemic.

“Thanks to the hard work of our teams this is turning around.

“But, it is not just about filling in potholes, it is about the major programmes of preventative works, surface dressing, and resurfacing which is taking place across the county.

“Please keep reporting any problems you see, but hopefully you will start to see a huge difference.”

Potholes logged by month this year totalled 4,711 in January, 6,068 in February, 5,035 in March and 2,905 in April, with the respective repair count being 2,541, 3,554, 4,964, and 3,739.