A revolutionary pothole machine developed by JCB has helped one local authority to complete three years of repairs - in just four months.
The Staffordshire digger maker launched its PotholePro machine last year in an effort to help tackle the UK's pothole problem.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council became the first in the UK to invest in the machine - which can repair a pothole in less than eight minutes and at half the cost of current solutions - after successfully trialling the technology months before.
Now the council has used to machine to fix 10,000 square metres of road across the city in just 130 days. That is the equivalent to eight Olympic-sized swimming pools.
It is thought that without the machine, and using traditional methods, it would have taken the authority 1,040 days - almost three years - to complete the work.
Councillor Daniel Jellyman, cabinet member for infrastructure, regeneration and heritage, said: "We are delighted with the success of the JCB PotholePro and the speed at which it is maintaining the city's road network.
"To have competed almost three years of work in just over four months is astounding and speaks volumes for this solution over traditional methods. It's proving so effective across the city that councillors and residents are actively asking for the PotholePro when a highway network issue arises.
"Put simply, the JCB PotholePro delivers a consistent and permanent repair in a fraction of the time. We are also able to deploy it on a multitude of other tasks and this delivers huge rewards in terms of time saved."
The development of the PotholePro has been personally led by JCB chairman Lord Bamford.
He said: "Potholes really are a blight on our nation and the solution we have developed with the JCB PotholePro offers a quick and permanent fix.
"Changing the long-established ways local authorities repair roads takes time, but I'm pleased that councils across the UK are now starting to see the real benefits of the JCB PotholePro, which is exceeding expectations with its speed and productivity."
