A NEW inspection system to identify the most dangerous potholes for quick repair is to be introduced by Lancashire County Council.

On Thursday its Cabinet is set to approve the new regime for highway maintenance to prioritise the most serious problems for action.

The £10million scheme aims to tackle problems such as potholes, broken drain grates, loose paving, and damaged bollards on the busiest roads and pavements.

Top priority will be potholes which are at least four centimetres and 15cm across deep on roads, and 2.5cm deep and 10cm wide on pavements.

The proposed Highway Safety Inspection Policy will specify response times according to risk, with the most serious issues made safe or fixed within four hours, and response times for other problems ranging from two days to 20 day

The policy sets a target of responding to 95 per cent of the most urgent issues within four hours,

County Cllr Keith Iddon, cabinet member for transport, said: "We are proposing to fix or make safe the most serious problems most quickly.

"For example we would look to respond to a missing manhole cover on a busy A-road or motorway with four hours and allow more time to respond to other issues which are less likely to have an impact, for example a slightly sunken drain on a quiet rural road."

County Cllr Iddon added: "I know that the standard of our roads is a real concern for people, which is why it's also one of our top priorities, and why we're planning to spend £10m on fixing potholes over the next year out of a total road maintenance budget of £23m."