Northumberland County Council welcomes Spring Budget millions for pothole repairs

Jeremy Hunt announced an extra £200m would be spent on highway maintenance across the country, almost £3.9m of which will be put to use in Northumberland.

Councillor John Riddle, cabinet member for local services, said: “Delivering improved maintenance and investment in our roads, walkways and cycleways is one of the council’s top priorities so extra funding to help us keep on top of road repairs is always welcome.

“We have a dedicated team and a range of equipment to keep our roads in the best condition possible.

“We carry out regular inspections across all our roads to identify potholes and repairs that are required to keep them safe, and we encourage people to report road defects via our website, giving details of their exact location, so that we can address the issue in a timely manner.”

This funding will add to the £23.4m the council has already promised for highway improvements in the county this year and will mean an additional programme of patching and resurfacing can take place.

Last year the council acquired a JCB Pothole Pro, known as ‘the pothole killer’, to help with repairs.

There are over 3,000 miles of road in Northumberland.

Also promised in the budget was £16m of funding for projects in Ashington town centre.

Other key plans outlined include an extension of the Energy Price Guarantee, the abolition of the Pension Lifetime Allowance, and expanded free childcare provisions.