A £3.5 million revamp of Worcestershire's roads has arrived in Worcester this week.

After tending to routes in Evesham, Pershore and Malvern, the county's biggest ever surface dressing project is now in Worcester.

The programme, first revealed in your Worcester News in April, will see 34 different city routes get new surfacing topped off by stone chippings designed to prevent potholes.

Surface dressing is believed to prolong the life of a road by up to a decade by preventing water from getting underneath it and freezing.

But it has proved controversial in the past - in June last year loose stone chippings from surface dressing at The Tything in Worcester led to huge plumes of dust gathering across buildings, infuriating traders.

Workers on behalf of Worcestershire County Council started today in Church Lane, Norton before moving onto Kingfisher's Close and Queens Wood in St Peter's.

Over the coming weeks the routes covered include Blackpole Road, Tunnel Hill, Northwick Road and Hindlip Lane, in Hindlip.

St John's will also be a major beneficiary of the work as Monarch Drive, Laxton Avenue, Cecilia Avenue and Ellison Avenue are all included.

Three major routes - Spetchley Road, Hylton Road and New Road - will be resurfaced in August to minimise any traffic disruption.

The council says they are not expecting any repeat problems from last year as the stone chippings in The Tything were a faulty batch.

Any loose chippings are swept within 24 hours and again, after about a week.

Councillor John Smith, the cabinet member for highways, said: "Surface dressing is a great cost effective way of maintaining our county's roads.

"It's also efficient and can be done quickly, cutting down on road or lane closures that cause inconvenience to motorists.

"We know from speaking to residents and businesses that improving the condition of our highways is a priority.

"We've invested more than £50 million to projects like this over the last few years.

"The situation has improved but we're still committed and will continue our efforts."

The project is weather dependent, with the council saying it might be suspended if it gets wet.