- Highways
- 01 May 2026
M Group has recently showcased its latest innovation, the Baby Dragon Patcher, to several local authority clients across the UK.
The Baby Dragon Patcher is a 7.5 tonne innovation, purpose-built by Archway Roadmaster® to revolutionise our highway maintenance capabilities.
Why the Baby Dragon?
The Baby Dragon is a compact version of our widely used 18 tonne Dragon Patcher. Designed specifically for country lanes and residential areas, it offers:
- Easier operation in tighter, more challenging locations.
- Faster deployment and improved efficiencies compared to the original model.
- Daily cost savings of 30%, including reduced fuel costs.
- Performance enhancements including:
- Quick mobilisation on-site and defects completed in minutes.
- Reduced impact on the network and road users due to smaller vehicle size.
- Reduced maintenance time and cost of spares due to compact boom design with fewer wear parts.
- Health and Safety improvements including:
- A smaller cab and lower entry to minimise the chances of slipping, tripping or falling while entering or leaving the cab.
- A smaller chassis to reduce the risk of mirror strikes.
Trials
Recently, The Baby Dragon Patcher arrived from Ireland and undertook its first real-world trials at our Huntingdon depot in Cambridgeshire and on the A40 London Road in Watlington, Oxfordshire.
During these trials, the Baby Dragon was compared directly with the larger Dragon Patcher, showcasing its advantages in real sites.
Introducing solutions for our clients’ challenges
With counties like Hampshire experiencing twice the number of highway defects compared to last year, there’s never been a better time to embrace innovation.
During peak demand, M Group Transport repaired 2,000 potholes in a single working week, averaging one every minute across all contracts.
In contrast to conventional patching, a crew using spray injection patching with a Dragon Patcher can repair an average sized pothole in under two minutes and deliver localised surface dressing to cracked and crazed areas during summer months.
A Dragon Patcher can deliver a programme of pre-surface dressing and micro-surface patching without causing breaking out of the road surface. This means it generates no waste and over 80% less carbon, when compared with conventional methods of patching.
Next steps
Following the showcases in Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire, we’ve had the go-ahead to trial this technology across Devon Highways for four weeks, then Oxfordshire Highways for two months, over the three-month contract periods. This will help us tackle unprecedented maintenance needs and demonstrate M Group’s commitment to leading edge highway repair solutions.
