Regions to get almost £100m to fix potholes

Councils in East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire have been handed the money for road repairs

Councils in East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire will get almost £100m to repair its roads, the government has said.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander announced earlier that each local authority in England will receive a cut of the government's £1.6bn budget for the next financial year.

The sum, which is £500m higher than the previous amount, is estimated to fix an additional seven million potholes and save drivers hundreds of pounds in repairs.

Lincolnshire councillor Richard Davies said the amount was lower than what he was expecting, while the East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) welcomed the funding.

Allocations across East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire:

• East Riding of Yorkshire Council: £22,015,000

• Hull City Council: £4,482,000

• Lincolnshire County Council: £60,441,000

• North East Lincolnshire Council: £4,127,000

• North Lincolnshire Council: £8,905,000

Road users are being encouraged to report potholes in the area to their local authority.

The funding will allow each council to identify the roads most in need of repair and to deliver "immediate fixes", the government said.

Figures from the RAC show drivers encounter an average of six potholes per mile in England and Wales and the cost of damage to vehicles from potholes is about £500 on average.

Fixing potholes is a priority for 96% of drivers, according to the AA.

When announcing the figures, the government said it was holding back 25% of the £500m uplift until authorities had shown that they were "spending the money wisely" and "delivering".

On Thursday, the boss of highways at Lincolnshire County Council said he was "frustrated" at a lack of funding for roads but acknowledged there were competing needs.

Councillor Richard Davies said: "This extra funding will only scratch the surface of what needs to be done to get the county's roads in shape.

"We'll continue doing all we can to make the most of the highways funding we have. But, the reality is that we've been having to prop up our highways funding locally in order to maintain the vast amounts of work we've been doing over the last few years to improve our roads."

He added the council doesn't always know about all the potholes and encouraged residents to visit the Fix My Street website to report problems.

A spokesperson for ERYC said: "The council welcomes the news of this latest funding from the government for road repairs, which is a significant increase on funding awarded in previous years.

"Our highway network, along with councils nationally, has suffered many years of under-investment and we will continue to work hard to ensure we make the best of the funding we receive from central government."

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