Putting their foot in it to mend potholes

Readers may remember that under Simon Dudley, our previous illustrious leader, we were issued a glossy brochure extolling the council’s excellence in how they were improving our lot.

Banners abounded across the borough to reinforce the message from the great and good.

One of the articles in the propaganda was the professional manner in which they were repairing roads, complete with glossy photographs of potholes having the edges cut out and squared off to prevent creep and then patching and compacting.

In other words, doing it properly. Commendable – and the repairs should last for a lifetime or at least as long as Dudley did. Ha!

Witness a local repair to a pothole at the edge of a road in Beenhams Heath last week.

A flatbed truck, lights flashing – no sirens – obviously the RBWM special pothole task

force (SPTF) in stealth mode. Contact! Pothole spotted starboard quarter, Captain Povey!

Without hesitation the recce group of

SPTF leapt into action debussing in a flash. A road edge crumble confirmed.

Sitrep to Gold Control… wait one… clearance for immediate action sanctioned.

After a couple handfuls of black stuff scraped off the back of the truck in to the hole, (I’m not dirtying my shovel) , one of the crew did the ‘Soft Shoe Scuffle” to smooth it and stood back, apparently filming on his phone, whilst the truck reversed over the tarmac and forward again - job done.

Tick it off the work sheet Leading Asphalter Goldstein!

A professionally compacted repair courtesy of a calibrated Doc Martins and Dunlop (at least until the next heavy horsebox trundles past and it has to be done again)

Report back to Gold ‘pothole down’ .

Well done chaps, mission accomplished, let’s have another gin and tonic.

RALPH JONES Beenhams Heath