Scrapped HS2 line money to be spent on North Northants roads

Steel Road in Corby, described by one driver as "like the surface of the moon"

Money saved by scrapping part of the HS2 line will be spent on improving a county's roads.

Councillors have agreed to use £2m from the government over two years to tackle "absolute priority roads".

North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) will have to publish regular updates or face losing the funding.

It said the money would be used for resurfacing and reconstruction schemes, inlaid patching works and permanent repairs to potholes

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A total of £1,069,000 will be implemented in this year's roads budget, with another instalment of the same amount to be used in the 2024/25 programme, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service..

The money has been offered to NNC by the Department for Transport (DfT) as part of the £8.3bn boost to roads across the country.

The cash became available following the cancellation of the northern section in phase two of the high speed rail link and it will be used for a road investment plan across the next 11 years.

Independent councillor Jim Hakewill (centre) said the roads were "the worst I've ever known in my life"

Jim Hakewill, an independent councillor who spoke at a NNC executive meeting, said: "Quite frankly, the roads are the worst that I've ever known in my life so we need a bit of scrutiny to understand how we're spending our money."

The DfT has set out the conditions it is placing on the money that is being handed out. Councils will be expected to:

• Publish regular updates on the work the funding is paying for

• Demonstrate a plan exists for resurfacing and maintenance work by March 2024

• Produce a long-term, 11-year plan for highway works

Councillors were warned at the meeting the DfT could withhold funding if it was not satisfied that NNC was planning to carry out more road repairs using the extra money.