More than 60 miles of Dorset roads have been treated in a £3 million council repair programme.

As part of Dorset Highways annual maintenance activities, 235 surface dressing sites have been treated over 82 days – protecting 64 miles of rural and urban roads from water damage and restoring skid resistance.

Areas worked on includes roads in Weymouth, Portland west Dorset and Purbeck.

Alongside this, Eurovia Surface Treatments was contracted to treat 17 miles of the A and B road network using higher grade surface dressing materials.

Surface dressing helps prevent potholes forming by providing a waterproof seal, and improves skid resistance with a thin layer of new stone chippings spread on the finished surface.

It is said to be very cost effective – roads can be kept in good condition for longer so resources can be directed to fully resurface the roads that need it most.

Cllr Daryl Turner, Dorset County Council Cabinet member for the natural and built environment, said: “For the first time in around 20 years we treated residential roads – visiting nine towns – and it has been a real success in reconditioning these minor roads.

“Although we have experienced a wonderful summer, which has helped us deliver this work on time and on budget, at times the excessive heat did present us with some challenging conditions."

Cllr Turner added; “I’d like to thank residents for their patience and for moving their vehicles off the road to allow the work to happen.

“Based on the results this year, we will certainly look at using surface dressing on urban roads in the future, allowing us to treat a greater area of our network.”

The final white lines will be put back in place over the next few weeks and then the team will be disbanded and set to work on footway slurry sealing and drainage clearing and repairs.