A council has taken on a machine to fix potholes that it had previously rejected.
The Pothole Pro was trialled by Lincolnshire County Council in 2021 but deemed not to offer good value for money.
But last year the authority, now led by the Reform party, stated it was carrying out a new year-long trial.
Its members have denied being influenced by the chairman of JCB, Lord Anthony Bamford, making a £200,000 donation to the party.
Earlier that year the party’s leader Nigel Farage held a party rally at JCB and the pothole pro was shown at its party conference.
Now Lincolnshire County Council has hailed the machine such a success it’s ending the year-long trial after just eight months and set to use it regularly going forward.
According to the Local Democracy Reporting service, officials say that the longer trial had allowed its contractors to get used to the machine more and though slightly more expensive than conventional methods, it has been very effective at fixing pothole clusters and repairing larger sections of roads.
The chairman of the Highways Scrutiny meeting, Reform’s Coun Thomas Sneath said: “It is encouraging to see the innovation being trailed properly – with a focus on productivity, safety and value for money, rather than just a novelty factor.
“The fact that the contractor has chosen to retain the machine as part of its normal delivery suggests that the previous trial was inept.
“But following a more mature trial, they are confident of its effectiveness and I see that this is a positive example of allowing flexibility within the contract to deliver better outcomes for our residents.”
Jonathan Evans, the head of Highways, said: “It probably wasn’t given the time it needed and the driver confidence has increased with usage.
“It was initiated as a political request to look at an alternative solution, I’m not going to hide away with that, but the decision is entirely with (contractor) Balfour Beatty to work within a cost envelope and pick the best bit of kit.”
The meeting was told that it would mainly be used for patching road.
Coun Charlotte Vernon said: “I think the conclusion is it should be the patchwork pro rather than the pothole pro.”
After the publication of this article on Wednesday, the Local Democracy Reporting Service ran a second article on the issue after it was featured in The Guardian newspaper.
It quotes county council leader Sean Matthews said: “Given that this trial has been conducted, and that analysis has been overseen, by a very long standing and respected group of officers who have been given the absolute freedom to say yes or no to this machine, I do not see how these comments apply to what has happened here.
“This trial has been set out differently to the previous trial in 2021, which lasted for just nine weeks.
“This new trial has shown a real benefit to road repair which can be proven, beyond doubt, after eight months on our roads. We now have a large amount of data which shows exactly where the gains are.
“To be clear, there was absolutely no political influence during this trial. And we continue to look at other products to improve our roads.
“I am extremely proud of the highways team for being so diligent and for putting this machine through its paces, and that it can add some serious clout to our road repair efforts.
“It is important that, as part of our efforts to improve our 5,500-mile road network, the highways team have the freedom to properly trial new tech, and revisit previously discounted ideas, in our ongoing effort to fix Lincolnshire’s roads.”
