DUDLEY Council bosses say thousands more potholes have been repaired on the borough's roads as part of a major “purge” on highways defects.

An extra £1million was pumped into tackling road defects in March this year.

Since then 13,841 square metres of roads have been repaired compared with 8,752 in 2019, bosses at the local authority have said.

The number of calls from members of the public reporting potholes has also rocketed as a major campaign kicked off in March this year.

Since then there have been 694 reports to the council - more than triple the number of reports the year before.

Council bosses have declared the pothole purge an “amazing success” but warned more work was needed on the borough roads.

Councillor Karen Shakespeare, Dudley's cabinet member responsible for highways, said: "This just goes to show that the £1million extra was a very sound investment; this has been an amazing success. People told us there was an issue and we responded.

"Our officers have work extremely hard, under difficult circumstances to meet this demand, something I am very grateful for.

"I would also like to thank people for reporting these issues to us but there is still more work to be done to make sure we make even more progress.”

As part of the purge the council has been targeting the resurfacing of residential roads where they meet the appropriate criteria for repairs.

People can report potholes to the council by calling Dudley Council Plus on 0300 555 2345, online at www.dudley.gov.uk (search potholes) or on Twitter @dudleyplus.