Councils urged to apply for £168m pothole repair fund

Local authorities are being invited to bid for a share of a £168 million pothole fund to repair local roads.

Successful local authorities will sign a Pothole Pledge as a condition of the funding, setting out the number of potholes they will have repaired by March 2015.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: “Part of this government’s long term plan is investing in our roads. Potholes are a menace for all road users which is why this extra funding is provided in addition to the £10 billion already committed for councils for road maintenance. I want councils to rise to the challenge and to reward councils who come up with new and better ways of making repairs quickly and effectively.

“With this new pothole fund councils will need to clearly set out the scale of the work they are doing, and local communities can have certainty that the money is being spent fixing potholes on their local roads.”

The £168m fund, announced in the Chancellor’s March Budget statement, is enough to fix more than three million potholes.

Councils have until 4pm on 22 May to submit a bid to the Department for Transport.