SOMERSET County Council should take advantage of unusually quiet days on the county’s roads to catch up with its backlog of pothole repairs, MP for Bridgwater and West Somerset Ian Liddell-Grainger has suggested.

He says it is an ideal time to carry out minor road mending with thousands of cars off the road because their owners are staying home and carrying out only essential journeys.

A number of larger road schemes have either been scaled back or halted because of the demands of social isolation during the coronavirus emergency.

But, said Mr Liddell-Grainger, minor works could be undertaken without putting staff at risk.

“I have seen county council workmen out and about in pairs – and two men are generally all that should be needed to fill in a pothole,” he said.

“Traffic on most Somerset roads has almost gone back to pre-war levels so now would seem an opportune time to start catching up with some of the smaller repairs that are outstanding.

“The work could be done quickly without any of the traffic disruption that usually comes with such operations.

“And I am sure once the emergency is over and traffic levels return to normal every motorist in the county would welcome such a move on two counts – having roads that are in better condition and being spared the misery of the long traffic queues that are pretty well inevitable when road repairs are carried out under normal circumstances.”