Barnet Council has unveiled a new machine that will help repair potholes in a bid to fix damaged road surfaces in the borough.

Leader of the council Richard Cornelius and chairman of the Environment Committee cllr Dean Cohen met with representatives from Re (Regional Enterprise), Barnet Council’s Highways delivery partner, and members of the Conway AECOM team last week.

They provided a demonstration in Cowper Road, Southgate, of a new Conway Rhinopatch machine that uses infrared heaters to repair potholes.

Cllr Dean Cohen said: “We know high-quality roads and pavements are a priority for residents, which is why these funds have been set aside.

“As well as repairing the roads, we understand prevention is better than cure and as such, we will be taking tough action against those who damage our pavements by parking large HGVs and driving over them with skips; this action causes extensive and expensive damage.

“This is a sizeable investment programme which will cover all aspects of the highways network, from roads and pavements to bridges, road markings and crossings.”

Through the Network Recovery Programme, Barnet Council is investing £50million in improving the borough’s roads and pavements until 2020.

In addition to the investment, the council has also secured additional funding from TfL to make it easier for buses to access their stops – allowing buses to pull in adjacent to the kerb and bus shelters, reducing congestion and improving air quality.

As part of the council’s Taking Care of Neighbourhoods campaign, residents are being encouraged to report a pothole by visiting: barnet.gov.uk/report-a-problem and attaching a photo of the road and pothole.

For more information about what the council is doing to improve roads and pavements, please visit: barnet.gov.uk/ourneighbourhoods