CITY council chiefs have done a U-turn and vowed to repair potholes they said weren’t deep enough to need fixing.

Campaigners are today celebrating the news they could soon be seeing the back of the hazards that have been blighting their Southampton community.

Engineers will now get to work to fix the potholes in Lordswood after the Daily Echo highlighted the problem.

As reported on Saturday, there are currently more than 50 of the potholes in two clusters on a quarter-of-a-mile stretch of Coxford Road.

Residents living nearby have been calling for them to be filled in for several years, saying they pose a safety risk to drivers and are a noise nuisance for residents living nearby.

Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator Judy Short had gathered a petition with 60 signatures from residents calling for action.

But one resident said he was told by a city council officer that the potholes would not be fixed as they were 30mm deep – 10mm too shallow.

Daily Echo:

Some of the potholes in Coxford Road, Southampton

Ward councillors Keith Morrell and Don Thomas, from the Councillors Against Cuts group, arranged a meeting with council officers at the site, and they were told one of the clusters would be fixed, but that the other potholes were not deep enough.

Later they were contacted by senior council officer, who told them that both clusters will now be repaired.

Cllr Thomas said: “It’s to be celebrated that common sense has prevailed, as the first response was ‘no, they’re not deep enough’.

“This is a bus route and at long last the residents might have a bit more peace and quiet because the buses make a racket going over the potholes.”

The news has been welcomed by the residents who campaigned for the issue to be tackled.

Coxford Road resident Alan Perrin, 82, said: “It’s absolutely brilliant – we’ve got two brilliant councillors.”

Mrs Short said: “I’m cautiously optimistic. In reality I think the whole stretch needs to be resurfaced but I don’t think they can do that so patching will have to do for now.”

Council environment and transport chief Jacqui Rayment said: “All potholes nationally as well as in Southampton are judged on certain criteria and a pothole either meets that criteria or it doesn’t.

“We monitor potholes for safety reasons, including those that might not meet the criteria but could have an impact on safety, and we have put aside more money to fix potholes that don’t necessarily meet the criteria.

“This Labour administration has put an extra £1.3million into roads this year because we recognise that potholes are a growing problem.”