Government cash for pothole repairs

Cheshire East Council is to benefit from more government funding to repair the borough’s potholes and road defects.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has announced that the national Pothole Action Fund is increased to £100m and Cheshire East will now receive just over £1m, up by more than £300,000 on what it was allocated initially.

Councillor Don Stockton, Cheshire East Council cabinet member for environment, said: “This is welcome news at a time when the council is faced with a real challenge in terms of meeting the demands for road repairs.

“That the secretary of state has increased the amount of funding for all authorities also demonstrates that the pothole problem is not peculiar to Cheshire East; that councils up and down the country are spending more money repairing roads.

“In Cheshire East, we are repairing, on average,150 road defects a day and have substantially increased the number of highways teams engaged in road repairs.

“We have to prioritise the urgent repairs we are currently carrying out but the additional money will enable us to do more permanent resurfacing work in the spring  and summer months ahead.”

Cheshire East Council recently increased the amount to be spent on the borough’s roads to £7m in 2018/19.

Residents are encouraged to report potholes at: www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/highways or call 0300 123 5020.