Nottinghamshire County Council unveiled a number of the £66,000 machines in May when it started a 12-month trial.Reform Council leader Mick Barton said the Pothole Pro machines could fill “between 200m and 250m a day”.”These are the best bet on the market,” he said.”We have done our homework and been to see them in action.”I know they will work in Nottinghamshire.”Sam Smith, Conservative leader of the opposition on the county council, previously said the authority carried out a “formal trial” of the Pothole Pro machines in 2021, and officers reported back that it was not worthwhile.Lincolnshire County Council conducted a nine-week pilot of the Pothole Pro in 2021, before turning it down because engineers “found better tools”.However, its current Reform leader Sean Matthews authorised another trial in 2025 and in April the council confirmed the equipment would be maintained having “demonstrated clear benefits in efficiency, safety and service across the county’s road network”. A spokesperson for JCB said: “The JCB Pothole Pro has proven its worth in other council areas where it has been evaluated more fully, such as Stoke-on-Trent City Council, which has repaired seven years’ worth of potholes in 12 months, a statistic that unequivocally underlines the machine’s efficiency. “We hope Leicestershire County Council – in light of the recent surge in potholes across the county – will now think differently and undertake a proper, long-term trial and evaluation of the Pothole Pro across its road network. “Motorists, cyclists and pedestrians in Leicestershire deserve nothing less.”
Pothole machine ‘not economical’, Leicestershire council says
