Local councils granted £168m by government to fill potholes

Local councils are being granted £168m in Department for Transport funding to fix potholes.

Each local authority had to bid for the cash which will be used to fill the holes, which occur in poor weather.

Much as  the extra funding will be welcomed by the nation's road users it is still a long way short of what councils say is needed to bring UK roads up to scratch - there is an estimated £10.5billion shortfall in council road repair budgets across the country -  Yorkshire alone it is estimated that it will take £1billion and 11 years to fix.

Of the £168million made available by the DfT more than £3 million was given to Leicester and Leicestershire, with the county council getting £2.6 million and the city council receiving just more than £400,000. Both said they would work on prevention of more holes as well as filling existing ones, which costs around £50-£70 per hole.

County council assistant highways director Mark Stevens, who helped complete the bid, told the Leicester Mercury:

"The amount we got is pretty good, we are really pleased.

"The Government were clearly impressed with the quality of our application."

"We haven't got a huge number of potholes compared to our neighbouring counties,

"However, they will always appear naturally in the winter. When they do occur, we will try and treat them straight away."

"We want to make legitimate use of the money that is being given to us – while other councils will be using their money to fix potholes, we will be ahead of the game by ensuring they don't form in the future."

Martin Fletcher, head of highways for Leicester City Council, said: "We will be making visible changes for the people in the city.

"We want to permanently repair these potholes, not just temporarily fix them.”

Once a series of local meetings has decided where the funds will be targeted, work will begin in the coming weeks.

In Surrey the government has granted an extra £3.8m to fill holes.

Surrey County Council has a large funding gap in its budget following the winter storms and ensuing floods, with a £23m total repair bill.

36,000 potholes have been repaired so far this year and the extra cash will allow it to fix another 78,000.

John Furey, SCC’s ,member for highways and flooding recovery, told the Local Guardian: "We’re doing everything we can to put things right for Surrey residents, and we’re grateful for this Government contribution towards our £23m repairs to flood-damaged roads.

"As well as fixing potholes, we’re also planning ahead by deciding which 300 miles of road are getting our most urgent repairs over the next year."