West Devon should soon be seeing potholes filled and roads repaired as highways authority Devon County Council receives an ‘early Christmas present’ of £83.6 million from the Government to focus on road improvement.

Devon received the largest share of the £1.6 billion investment announced by the Labour Government on Friday, December 20.

The county council have explained that the funding will be used to prioritise extensive surfacing, patching, drainage improvements and other preventative maintenance.

Councillor Stuart Hughes, Cabinet Member for Highway Management, said: “This announcement from the Government is excellent and great news for everyone in Devon. This is a significant increase in funding for our roads and will help us continue at pace with our efforts to tackle the repair backlog on our roads and protect the travelling public.

“We can assure the Government that we will get best value from this funding to target pothole repairs and other preventative maintenance to stop potholes from forming in the first place.”

This funding will be compiled over the next couple of months to help tackle the highway maintenance backlog on Devon’s 8,000 mile road network which is currently in excess of £200 million.

Cllr Stuart Hughes went on to explain that the money still won’t be enough to make the roads perfect but will help get the road networks in Devon “up to scratch”.

The Government said the funding will help fix the equivalent of seven million potholes across the country. They will hold back 25 per cent of the funding until the county councils have shown that they’re delivering the preventative maintenance.

This funding will be an addition to the £12 million investment that Devon County Council made to patching and surfacing roads in Devon earlier this year.

Road users can report potholes and other problems on the highways via the council website.