Highways teams based in southern Oxfordshire visited by chair of the county council

Teams who maintain and repair Oxfordshire’s roads received a distinguished visitor recently when the Chair of Oxfordshire County Council Cllr Susanna Pressel called by to meet them.

Susanna was given a tour of the council’s Drayton depot between Abingdon and Didcot. She met the staff and saw the equipment they use to repair and improve the county’s roads.

Among other things she saw for herself the fire-breathing  ‘dragon-patcher’ machine that has been introduced in recent years to improve the process of repairing road defects. The machine uses a combination of compressed air, heat, bitumen and chippings to repair holes.

Cllr Pressel said: “It was great to meet the teams who work throughout the year on our road surfaces. They put it in a lot of effort to make sure we can all keep moving and it was instructive to see the equipment they use and hear about the challenges and the way they go about their work.

“Of course in the winter the depot is the hub for the gritting operation in the south of the county. The gritter drivers and the people who oversee that operation help keep us safe in winter often working through the night.

“Drayton depot is a very important part of our overall highways work in the county and it was great to be able to thank the teams for the work they do.”