The county council has explained how pothole repairs are prioritised as concerned residents continue to report damaged roads.

At the beginning of March, Transport for Bucks (TfB) teams started work on a £4.6 million pothole repair scheme known as plane and patch – which aims to tackle large areas of potholes.

A blog posted on TfB’s website states that the authority used to prioritise pothole repairs based on their size – however it now takes a different approach.

The risk posed to the public, depth and surface area, how busy the road is, whether the pothole is on a junction or bend and the weather conditions are all taken into account before repairs are prioritised.

The “lower risk” defects are included in repair programmes – such as plane and patch – so the authority can “target resources to higher risk defects”.

Inspections are carried out on potholes and they are then categorised as emergency, category one and category two.

Emergency potholes will be permanently repaired or “made safe” at the time of the inspection – and they will then be permanently repaired 28 days later.

Category one potholes “require emergency attention” as they “present a potential risk to road users” and will also be repaired or made safe at the time of inspection.

All other defects are classed as “category two” which are “deemed not to present an immediate hazard” and are either scheduled for repair within 28 days or included in another programme.

The plane and patch programme covers more than 150 different repair schemes across the county and prioritises areas with large numbers of potholes on a smaller section of road.

While the scheme continues repairs are also carried out on potholes that have been deemed a “priority”.

Report a pothole at https://www.fixmystreet.buckscc.gov.uk.