Isle of Wight receives £260m roads overhaul funding

Roads on the Isle of Wight are in line for a £260m overhaul which will become the largest engineering project undertaken on the island.

The government had agreed multimillion-pound funding for a private finance deal which will see 497 miles (800 km) of roads resurfaced over 25 years.

The figure is £100m less than the previous Labour government had agreed.

Councillor Edward Giles said it would bring "substantial benefits" in terms of business and the economy.

A further £800,000 has been granted to treat potholes.

Councillor Giles, cabinet member responsible for transport, said: "It's excellent news for the Isle of Wight and will enable us to upgrade all of our roads and footways to national standards.

"The standards we were aiming to achieve in certain areas will be altered but we will still meet national standards across the board whereas previously in certain areas we were intending to exceed those standards."