AFTER extensive pressure put on Hampshire County Council to improve road surfaces in Basingstoke, the investment is now coming to fruition.

Last year the county council used its new “dragon patchers” to fill in potholes on major commuter routes, but many resident roads were left untreated.

However, Basingstoke Central division councillor, Cllr Michael Westbrook, had been campaigning for small versions of the patching machinery to be used on the streets of Basingstoke.

Now, the county council has secured the two dragon patcher machines exclusively for use on Hampshire roads by adding local funding to the extra money received from the Government’s Pothole Fund.

The innovative new machines are quick and efficient, repairing a defect five times faster than traditional methods, meaning that many more repairs can be made.

Cllr Westbrook said: “I’ve long been pressing the County Council to see this new technology, previously only available to fix the “bigger roads”, deployed here on our Basingstoke urban roads.”

He welcomed the announcement of “new additions” to the Dragon Patcher family in October last year and is pleased they’ve finally arrived.

He added: “It can repair a defect five times faster than traditional methods and is effective in all weathers, with the road being ready for traffic immediately afterwards.”

This forms part of £50m investment to improving Basingstoke roads.

Basingstoke’s MP, Maria Miller, met with Cllr Rob Humby, executive member for environment and transport at the county council to see the machine in action.

She said: “Having roads free from potholes and other defects is really important for people going about their daily business, and I was really interested to see this new technology which is helping to improve the road surfaces for Basingstoke residents.”