Lincolnshire pothole funding 'needs to double'

Highways officials in Lincolnshire say they need government funding for pothole repairs to double in order to maintain the county's roads.

In April 2010, Lincolnshire County Council was given an extra £2.7m for road repairs.

William Webb, executive member for highways and transport, said the council had made good use of the money.

But he said they would need more to mend all of the potholes on the county's 5,600-mile road network.

He said: "We could do with double the allocation to bring things back to where we would like to see them.

"But realistically, the budget to the council is finite and the government has been generous to us."

The Conservative-led authority's highways budget in 2010/11 was £25,585,000 and is estimated at £25,218,000 for 2011/12.

The Local Government Association said there was a backlog of road repairs nationally and another hard winter could make the problem even worse.