A NEW winter campaign has seen Central Bedfordshire Council repair 3,000 potholes.

The council has spent more than £150,000 in six weeks to repair "dangerous and severe" potholes caused by the recent cold weather.

Since the initiative started in January, repairs have averaged around 500 per week, or 100 a day.

There are plans to carry out repairs in London Road, Biggleswade this month, which may require a road closure.

News of the repairs has come as a surprise to some residents and drivers, who claim they have seen no significant changes to the roads.

Terry Hutt was visiting Biggleswade with his son when his car hit a pothole, causing major damage to one of his wheels.

He promptly contacted Central Bedfordshire Council and his insurer to fund his repair costs, but both refused to do so.

Mr Hutt, 75, had driven to the town to look at a flat his son was thinking of buying, but said the incident had put his son off.

He said: "He's not so keen now - Central Bedfordshire is just one of many councils who claim to be repairing the roads, but so many drivers are having a lot of damage caused to their vehicles."

Shefford mayor Paul Mackin said the council may be repairing the potholes quickly, but the work was often of a poor standard.

He said: "The problem is, we have potholes that are four foot long and five inches deep, and when the council send people out they just do a quick fix, filling them with coal.

"Within days though a lot of people will have driven over them and they are soon back to the state they were in in the first place."