A NEW company has been contracted to carry out road repairs and winter maintenance on Gloucestershire’s roads.

From Tuesday, April 1, Gloucestershire County Council will be joining forces with Amey to provide highways services and the authrotiy believes the county’s tax payers will be getting value for money.

The new contract is for an initial five years but could be extended up to 11 years in total, which means it's worth between £130million and £450million overall.

Amey was named as the preferred bidder for Gloucestershire's highway and transport services back in December last year and already has experience of working in the county, running the street scene contract for Gloucester City Council.

They also run similar contracts in Birmingham, Hampshire and Sheffield.

The previous contract with Skanska, when the partnership was known as Gloucestershire Highways, has now ended.

Cllr Vernon Smith, cabinet member for highways said he was confident the new highways partnership would provide quality services and value for money for tax-payers.

“Thanks to the extra investment we've made in our roads and this new partnership, I expect Gloucestershire's network to go from strength to strength into the 21st century," he said.

Amey chief executive Mel Ewell said they were committed to delivering quality highways services in Gloucestershire.

“By drawing on our existing footprint in the local area along with our national highways experience we can provide a high quality, yet cost efficient services for the county.”

The new Twitter account @glosroads takes effect from Tuesday, April 1.

Residents can still report problems on the highway in the same way, either by reporting it online at www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/reportit or by emailing gcchighways@amey.co.uk

They can also call 0800 514514 free of charge from most landlines.

You can also keep up to date with planned works at www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/roadworks