Labour ministers set to spend £1.6bn on filling-in potholes and roads

A record £1.6billion will be spent on fixing potholes next year in a massive boost for the Daily Mail’s campaign to end the scourge. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander last night unveiled the 50 per cent hike in funding for resurfacing local roads - enough to fix 7million extra potholes. A record £1.6billion will be spent on fixing potholes next year in a massive boost for the Daily Mail’s campaign to end the scourge Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander last night unveiled the 50 per cent hike in funding for resurfacing local roads - enough to fix 7million extra potholes She added: ‘Potholes have plagued drivers across the country for too long.Today I am announcing a plan to end this scourge, resurface roads and back our nation’s motorists.’ She said the Government will also increase fines for cowboy roadworks firms which leave roads in a worse state than they found them or finish fixing surfaces well past the set deadline. The RAC’s Simon Williams said: ‘This is the biggest one-off road maintenance funding settlement councils in England have ever been given, so we have high hopes it’s the turning point that ends the degradation of our roads and finally delivers fit-for-purpose, smooth surfaces for drivers and all other road users. In a previous report, the National Audit Office pointed to industry estimates of a £15.6billion backlog in road maintenance across the country The Daily Mail has been campaigning to end the nation’s pothole plague, which is costing drivers millions of pounds in repair bills and putting cyclists’ lives at risk ‘What’s particularly positive is that this announcement is not just about giving councils money to fix dangerous potholes, it comes with the important caveat of using the money wisely by carrying out preventative maintenance to stop more potholes appearing in the future.’ Edmund King, President of the AA AA president, said: ‘Drivers and riders across England will be pleased to see this significant cash injection into smoothing out the local road network.