£3.5m to be spent repairing Rhondda Cynon Taff bridges

About £3.5m will be spent on helping two bridges in Rhondda Cynon Taff cope with the winter elements.

The money will "future-proof" the St Albans Bridge in Treherbert and Brook Street footbridge, Ystrad Rhondda.

It follows £53m being spent on roads and highways over the past five years, with another £26.5m earmarked for the next three years.

The local authority said roads had been "severely damaged" by freezing conditions which created pot holes.

Work on the ageing bridges will see the structures reinforced and cracks and holes on them repaired.

One of the biggest projects in 2016 saw £1.25m spent on the Rhigos Mountain Road, which links the Rhondda and Cynon valleys, to prepare it for this winter.

Council leader Andrew Morgan said bad weather had "severely affected" its highways and work would keep damage to a minimum.