Extra cash approved for Wiltshire's road maintenance

An extra £52m is to be spent maintaining Wiltshire's roads over the next six years.

Wiltshire Council said the cash would be used to clear the backlog of repairs on its 2,750 miles (4,426 km) of roads.

A meeting of the council's cabinet was told a complete upgrade of the network would cost £100m per year and this would be "unaffordable".

Members approved a plan which will see some 150 miles (240 km) resurfaced a year for the next six years.

'Not viable'

Councillors were told a succession of severe winters and flooding were to blame for the damage to surfaces.

John Thomson, who is responsible for highways, said many of the roads had deteriorated to the point where simply maintaining them was not viable.

"We need to invest further to improve our vast road network, which will result in fewer injuries from traffic incidents," Mr Thomson added.

Funding would come from the annual maintenance grant from the Department for Transport topped up by drawing on agreed borrowing within the council's budget.