Preventing potholes is the goal of a planned £10.4m project to seal hundreds of miles of Norfolk roads.

Eastern Daily Press: A Highways England crew at work. Picture: HIGHWAYS ENGLANDA Highways England crew at work. Picture: HIGHWAYS ENGLAND (Image: Archant)

Norfolk County Council crews and contractors will next week start the surface-dressing scheme, intended to extend the life of the roads and make them skid-resistant to cut the risk of accidents.

Martin Wilby, chairman of the council's environment, development and transport committee, said the project was part of more than £21m earmarked for the county's roads this year.

Mr Wilby said: 'Giving hundreds of miles of our road surfaces a new seal helps to prevent potholes opening up so is a really important part of the work we do to maintain our vital infrastructure.

'Our teams do this work between April and September every year while the weather is warmer, and we always aim to get the holiday areas and main roads treated first so they are complete before the start of the busy summer season.'

Eastern Daily Press: A pothole spotted in Norfolk. Picture: Adie ShuckfordA pothole spotted in Norfolk. Picture: Adie Shuckford (Image: Archant)

Gangs will be starting work on April 19 in Syderstone in Norfolk's north-west and in the Hopton, Bradwell and Walcott areas in the east.

During the process, a thin layer of bitumen and chippings is laid onto the road, stopping water penetration and reducing the number of potholes caused by frost.

Mr Wilby said: 'The action of vehicles passing over the new surface plays an important part in helping to new surface to settle in.'

People are urged to drive slowly on the new surface until it is bedded in and highway teams return a few days later to sweep up the loose stones.

And Highways England, which is responsible for trunk roads, has also started repairing by the harsh winter.

Over the next six weeks Highways crews will be filling potholes on the A11 at Wymondham, the A47 near Redmoor and Guyhirn Bank, near Wisbech, and at Honingham.

Martin Fellows, Highways' regional operations director, said: 'Many roads in the East of England were built in the 1970s and the time is coming where we need to comprehensively renew them. We are acting in the immediate term to restore recurrent problem areas and in the longer-term will need to carry out permanent improvements.'