AN EXTRA £140m is being made available to help repair roads hit by weather damage, says the government.

Support for councils to fix the roads most damaged by severe weather would be increased by £36.5m to £80, said transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin on Sunday (9 March).

On top of this, an extra £103.5m would be made available to all councils across England following the exceptionally severe weather of recent months.

This was in addition to almost £900m already available for road maintenance this year, bringing total government investment in road maintenance to more than £1bn in 2013-14.

Having the right infrastructure in place to support businesses and hardworking people is a crucial part of our long-term economic plan, said Mr McLoughlin.

“This extra money will help make a real difference to the millions of road users and local residents who rely on local roads, giving them safer and smoother journeys.”

Councils had a responsibility to maintain roads, but exceptional weather had caused significant additional damage – increasing the amount of damage to the local road network.

As flood water had receded and councils had been able to assess the impact, it was clear that damage had been particularly severe in certain areas.

The Local Government Association welcomed the money – but warned that the final repair bill following winter weather was likely to exceed the £140m on offer.

"Councils have expressed serious concerns about the impact this winter's extreme weather has had on the roads,” said Mike Jones, chairman of the LGA environment and housing board.

“It is good news for residents that government has listened and responded to councils' call for more money to repair flood-hit roads.

“We do not yet know what the full bill for the cost of this winter's devastating floods will be, but we expect it to be more than £140 million

“Nevertheless, we are pleased the government has recognised the need to provide funding for these extensive and costly repairs.

"Councils already face a substantial £10.5 billion shortfall to bring our roads up to scratch and this has been exacerbated by adverse weather, which seems to be becoming increasingly common.

There is an even greater need for increased and consistent funding over a number of years for the road network to recover, such as investing in widespread resurfacing projects.

“This money shows the Government has recognised the need to provide additional funding.”

The extra money will be allocated on a formula basis, and distributed to the majority of councils in England by the end of this week.

Mr McLoughlin said this would ensure that local authorities could make use of the funding as soon as possible and complete works before the summer holidays.

In return for the extra money, local authorities will be required to publish information on their websites by the end of August 2014 showing where it has been spent.