Long-awaited pothole repairs on Sleaford town centre street rubbished by residents

The Standard reported on Friday that a series of large potholes that have been plaguing drivers on Mareham Lane near Aldi had finally been filled in the previous day after residents had been reporting them since January.

But North Kesteven District Councillor Mark Suffield says the quality of the workmanship is poor and, in fact, said he would check again in a month’s time to see if the dollops of Tarmac had lasted.

He commented: “Well 133 days since I reported the potholes on Mareham Lane Sleaford, they have now been fixed.

“I am no expert but not sure they are going to last that long.”

he said they appeared to be not sealed and already sinking.

Coun Suffield also claimed that the job had been registered as completed just minutes after he had first registered it online, suggesting a fault in the system.

Back in February, town councillor Adrian Snookes said he had been assured by the county council that the holes were on their ‘to do’ list and would be done the following month. This was prioritised after an elderly pensioner was splashed by cars driving through large puddles further along the road. The council pledged to take action on sorting out the drainage issues there too.

Coun Snookes had told The Standard in February that the potholes were dangerous, saying: “I have reported it three times and they (highways) have assured me they are going to get it done next month, which is not good enough. They fixed some holes there last year when someone fell off their bike. Vehicles are getting damaged and then the county council has to pay for the repairs costing taxpayers more money.”

Coun Snookes was pleased that the job had finally been done after months of lobbying.

New white road lane markings to instruct drivers and reduce confusion have also been painted onto the roads leading up to the Southgate level crossing junction with Grantham Road and Mareham Lane.

The local highways manager said: “This is a busy junction and the level crossing is an added difficulty, meaning repairs here need to be carefully timed. We had hoped to make the repairs in March to coincide with a planned closure of the crossing by Network Rail, but our contractor was unfortunately unavailable. So the works were rescheduled for the next available closure, which was last Thursday.

“We appreciate the delay in the repairs was frustrating, but this approach was the best way to minimise the impact on the travelling public. We are not sure what caused the apparent issue with the reporting system, but we will be looking into it.”

Residents are now hopeful that the series of holes on Boston Road will also be fixed.

On our Facebook page Ray Maltby asked: “Maybe we should do what other people are supposedly doing, planting bulbs and plants in them.”

Jo Moore commented: “They don’t look like they will last long.”

Karen Draycott added: “What a bodge up! Then they wonder why they come back so quick!”

Coun Ken Fernandes said: “They are not sealed, this repair will pop again.”

Helen Waltham said: “About time let’s see how long they last.”

As Tony Smith said similarly: “They won’t last long. It’s a right shoddy job they have done.”