JCB’s brand new pothole fixing machine put in a nightshift on the A12 in East London – repairing dozens of highway defects in double quick time.

The British digger maker has launched the revolutionary JCB PotholePro – a machine that can repair a pothole in less than eight minutes, four times quicker than standard methods and at half the cost of current solutions.

As part of nationwide demonstration of its capabilities to councils and highways contractors, it put in a shift on the A12 in Havering where if fixed the equivalent of 50m² of potholes in just six hours over a 40 mile stretch of the road.

JCB Product Specialist Ben Rawding said: “The truth is we could have repaired so many more potholes, but the PotholePro worked so quickly and efficiently that the contractor ran out of tarmac.

“Potholes are a huge concern for councils all over the country and one of the issues with repairs at the moment is that in most cases they are only short term fixes – and that’s where the JCB PotholePro differs.

“Just like when you have a filling, the dentist has to carefully remove all the decay so your tooth can be filled properly without recurrence of pain. It’s just the same with a pothole: it needs to be prepared properly before it is filled so the pothole doesn’t open up again within weeks. That’s exactly what the JCB PotholePro does; it cuts, crops and cleans the hole so a permanent repair can be carried out.”

Tests with local authorities and contractors show the JCB PotholePro can complete a pothole repair in less than eight minutes – equivalent to up to 250 square metres per day and 700 potholes per month. With a 40km/h travel speed, the machine can rapidly relocate between sites without additional transport costs.

The RAC recently revealed that calls out to damage caused by holes in the road was up 37 per cent since the same point in 2020 despite traffic levels plummeting due to lockdown measures.

And shock figures from the AA reveal more than £11bn-worth of potholes need repairing across the UK.

Councils around the country get a request to fix a pothole every 46 seconds, and nationwide more than £8.1 million was paid out in compensation to drivers last year for vehicle damage caused by potholes.