POTHOLE repairs on North Somerset's crumbling roads are only expected to last for less than a month, it has been revealed. North Somerset

POTHOLE repairs on North Somerset's crumbling roads are only expected to last for less than a month, it has been revealed.North Somerset Council highways chiefs admitted that many repairs to gaping holes in the road surface were only 'temporary' and expected to last 'up to 28 days'.The authority, which receives 80 reports a month about potholes, currently has an annual budget of £500,000 to spend on non planned highway maintenance. The shock statistics follow continual complaints about the poor state of the district's roads. If a pothole is identified - and meets the strict criteria to be filled - the highways team will make a temporary repair known as 'cold filling'.A 'cold' repair is expected to last up to 28 days before it needs filling again. If a full repair is deemed necessary, the highways department of the council has to apply to the authority's legal department for a road closure order - at a cost of £960.Health and safety guidelines state that no hot tar can be used to fill a pothole unless a road closure is in place.North Somerset Council spokesman Stephen Makin said: "If there is a single pothole it is likely we will continue to cold fill repair it."However if there are a number of potholes in one area then it may be we carry out more permanent repairs as part of general re-surfacing work. We rarely do a hot fill repair for temporary pothole repairs."To be considered for repairs, potholes have to measure at least 40mm deep and 300mm wide. Potholes on footpaths have to be 20mm deep and 600mm wide.But some have branded the council as throwing good money after bad, claiming the authority should fix the potholes properly the first time around rather than continually revisiting them. The problem has reached crisis point in Pill where a series of pot holes on village roads have been patched up - only to become a problem again weeks later.Pill and Easton-in-Gordano Parish Council clerk Julie Smart said: " We have received a lot of complaints about potholes in the Station Road, Marine Parade and Stoneyfields areas. The issue is that the potholes are only being temporarily filled so a few weeks after being done are in the same sort of state as they were before."There are potholes that have been filled four times over the past few months because of these rulings."Parish councillors are now urging residents to report all potholes to the district council.