DRIVERS will welcome the news that a road resurfacing programme for East Ayrshire has started.

Work is now underway on the extensive £6m project which was made possible by the council trebling the budget for road repairs.

The Chronicle and our readers had joined forces with driving instructor Stuart Hornell’s online campaign to highlight the worst potholes.

After winter damage led to road defects being recorded on an unprecedented scale, a decision was taken to allocate an extra £4m to road resurfacing.

Since February, a series of meetings were hosted and inspections were carried out by the roads maintenance unit of Ayrshire Roads Alliance.

They designed a road resurfacing programme which would focus on the roads most affected by defects, potholes and surface fragmentation.

Teams will be resurfacing substantial stretches of road; moving away from temporary repairs on isolated patches and potholes.

Both the B7037 Galston to Sorn road and Woodroad Park in Cumnock are among the first roads to be repaired.

Ballochmyle councillor Jim Roberts joined council leader Douglas Reid to visit the Alliance team at work.

Mr Reid said: “Trebling the road repair fund to £6m, for this year alone, was a major step towards helping tackle issues on our roads.

“The resurfacing programme developed by the Alliance will result in 60km (37.5 miles) of local roads being resurfaced from now until the autumn.

“We have also changed the way we work to meet the unprecedented level of repairs that have emerged after the winter weather. Instead of temporary repairs on isolated patches and potholes we are carrying out extensive resurfacing works.

“We also have established Find and Fix squads who will deal with all categories of road repair in one visit. The foreman of the squad will also inspect and record any visible defects.

“There will inevitably be some disruption during these extensive but essential works and the council apologises for any inconvenience caused.”

Updates will be provided in the Chronicle as the programme continues throughout East Ayrshire.