MORE than 7,000 potholes have been repaired in the past two weeks by twenty-six teams of specialist gangs working across the county.

MORE than 7,000 potholes have been repaired in the past two weeks by twenty-six teams of specialist gangs working across the county.

The recent spell of severe weather has caused a significant increase in potholes on the county's roads, the county council has revealed.

This coupled with last year's winter - the worse Devon had experienced in 30 years - has led to the county's road surfaces suffering.

Councillor Stuart Hughes, cabinet member for highways and transportation said: "We are working hard to repair as many potholes as we can as quickly as we can and have been concentrating on the busiest main roads first and will then move to the less used roads shortly.

"The information received from members of the public has been invaluable. We have been able to use this with the data gathered by our highways staff to prioritise the work and build a picture up of damage around the county."

Potholes happen when roads become brittle which can result in cracking, chippings can loosen. Water gets into these weakened areas and the process of freezing and thawing causes a pothole.

Nearly 50,000 potholes have been repaired since April 2009 and it is expected that the repair bill will exceed that of last year, which was around �11 million over and above that of a normal winter.

Councillor Hughes added: "Devon roads are not alone in suffering from the very cold weather, and we will be putting together a funding bid to central government once we are aware of the extend of the damage, in the mean time we will continue to repair as many potholes as we can."

Drivers are also being warned to take extra care to avoid potholes on all roads and particularly those they use regularly, until defects have been repaired. This is especially important in hours of darkness and when wet as holes filled with water may be deceptive.

Members of the public are encouraged to help the county council identify potholes by either reporting any they see online at www.devon.gov.uk/pothole or by phoning 0845 155 1004 on weekdays between 8am and 8pm or on Saturdays between 9am to 1pm.