Dragon patcher hits the road to tackle Peterborough's pothole problem

The ‘dragon patcher’ machine works in Peterborough for one month a year – and can fill in a large hole in less than six minutes.

The Peterborough Telegraph went to see the dragon working in Castor, where one hole was fully patched up, ready for cars to drive over it in five minutes and 35 seconds.

The machine is in particular demand this year, as due to the very wet winter we’ve had, more potholes than ever have been reported, causing issues for drivers across the city.

Leader of Peterborough City Council, cllr Shabina Qayyum was also on hand to witness the machine in action. She said: “I was so impressed – I’ve been waiting to see this magnificent machine in action. We have it for one month every year.

"We’ve seen it fill in a pothole in just under six minutes in front of our eyes – and what a wonderful job it has done.

"We know that because of the inclement weather that we have had a larger proportion of potholes this year. But we have also seen a large number of reports, and we would encourage everyone to use the fixmystreet app, in which all the details of the potholes are uploaded and hopefully rectified within a week.

"Compared to other cities we are doing a lot better. This machine is working overnight and it has been a game changer – and I love the quality of that pothole fix!”

In February, the council said there had been 787 reports of potholes in Peterborough – compared to 231 the previous year.

Nearly 2,500 potholes had been repaired by the end of January, the council said.

Harsh weather conditions were said to be the driving force behind the exponential increase in road surface damage, with cold weather followed by the extremely wet weather which created the perfect conditions for potholes to form.

For more information on how to report a pothole to the council, visit https://report.peterborough.gov.uk/