THE smartphone app which lets people report potholes direct to Wiltshire Council’s highway repairs section is being ‘tweaked’, after initial faults with the service.

Since launching in September, free app My Wiltshire has been downloaded by around 450 people with 515 complaints being logged.

They take a picture of the problem which registers the location through a global positioning system, logs it with a highways repair team and adds it to their work schedule.

Wiltshire Councillor John Thomson, cabinet member for highways, has tried using the service, which is part of the council’s £125m five-year highways deal with Balfour Beatty Living Places.

Cllr Thomson, who has submitted 80 reports, said: “I’ve noticed the GPS doesn’t always correspond with the logged complaint. When this is the case there needs to be improved communication through the app contacting the person who logged the report.”

Cllr Thomson admitted repair teams need to use common sense to tackle other repairs, if possible, while answering My Wiltshire logs.

He said: “It has not been perfect but these things take time. The trouble is when you are pioneers problems will happen and others will copy when you’ve addressed them.

“There is a software update available, and I’d recommend everyone who has the app downloads that as it allows the app to run much smoother. We are also looking at making the feedback much clearer.”

Cllr Thomson is convinced Balfour Beatty has over- come contract ‘teething problems’ and will deliver when the winter weather hits Wiltshire.

He said: “Everyone is paranoid about getting this right after the grass cutting issues. We have plenty of salt at the ready.”

  • Why My Wiltshire fails to impress

The Wiltshire Times has been testing the new My Wiltshire app, which lets people report street repairs direct to Wiltshire Council.

Reporter Craig Jones logged a pothole complaint in Church Street, Trowbridge, on October 25. He heard nothing more – though the hole was crudely filled in – and when he contacted the council on Wednesday was told a GPS error had first made the pothole hard to find, and that the repair was only a temporary one.

He said: “If there was a problem locating it I’d have thought somebody would have got in touch asking for more information. I thought one of the main benefits of the app would be the prompt feedback it offered but I didn’t get anything."