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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Marie Sharp

Public to name Midlothian's new 'magnificent beast' of a pothole fixer

Residents in Midlothian are being asked to name the council's new superfast pothole machine which is reducing repair time from half a day to 30 minutes.

Midlothian Council's new 13 tonne JCB Pothole Pro has been described as a 'magnificent beast' and is being hailed as a game changer in the battle to fix damaged roads in the county.

And the local authority has launched a competition giving people the chance to come up with a name for the machine.

READ MORE: Midlothian primary school needs new temporary classroom to cope with influx of pupils

Early suggestions on social media include Pat BenaTAR, Phil McCracken, Sir Filly Connolly and Holey Willoughby and Fill Schofield.

A video showing the machine, which is expected to allow the roads team to fill in 1,000 potholes in the next six months, in action has also been launched alongside the competition.

Councillor Dianne Alexander, Midlothian Council’s cabinet member with responsibility for roads, said: “This is a magnificent beast of a machine that the roads team tell me can do a repair in 30 minutes that could otherwise take half a day using conventional methods.

“These repairs are not temporary fixes that will last only a week or two, these are permanent solutions that will last the lifetime of the road."

The Pothole Pro was bought as part of a £780,000 programme to replace outdated roads machinery with the council pledging £12.5million of capital investments in road repairs over the next five years.

Other names suggested by members of the public so far in the competition include The Tarminator, Hole in Wonder, and About Bl@#dy Time.

Entries will be considered between now and May 30 with the new name to be announced after the competition closing date.

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