A total of £3million is being earmarked to top up the budget for fixing and maintaining the county's roads, cycle paths and pavements, Leicestershire County Council announced today (Monday).

The County Council is proposing to redirect the one-off cash to mend pot holes and 'patch repair' across its 2,800-mile network to mitigate the impact of funding pressure and costs increases.

The money is the equivalent of 30,000 repairs or 75,000 square metres of damaged road and would be used to target areas across the county.

Councillor Ozzy O'Shea, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "We're working really hard to tackle the wear and tear we see on our roads. We've got some of the best roads in the country but like other areas, we face an ongoing budget squeeze and growing demand.

"Channelling this one-off money into day-to-day maintenance means we can keep up our good work fixing potholes and repairing defects which we know is really important to our residents."

A huge preventative programme - known as 'surface dressing' – also gets underway this summer and will see more than 600,000 square metres of road treated to prevent potholes forming in the first place.

Plans to invest the money, previously allocated to tackle the impact of the challenging economic climate, will be discussed by the council's cabinet this Friday (26 May) – watch online HERE.