Government gives £1.5m for road repairs in West Berks

Earlier this month,Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced that funds would be made available to ensure the rapid repair of roads damaged by the severe weather that hit the south of England from December to February.
The district council subsequently applied for funding to repair 20 miles of its highways - which it identified as needing urgent attention - and last week it was told it will receive a total of £1,489,480.
The council will have to publish how and where the money will be spent by August.
It has also set aside between £1m and £2m from its reserves on top of the money received from the government.
Council leader Gordon Lundie said: “The money will not cover everything we need to be doing and of course we could have always done with more - but it’s a fair amount.
“The transport team will be assessing what work needs to be done and where based on the highest level of need.
“Priority will be given based on the severity of the damage and the usage of the road and in some cases it might be more beneficial to resurface the whole road. We will aim to repair all the damage between now and hopefully December.”
The council also plans to spend £11m on improving its highways next year with the money to be spent on surface and structural reconditioning and maintaining key ‘highway assets’ such as structures, drainage, traffic signals, street lighting upgrades, signs and road markings.
The £183.5m is an emergency payment from the government to help with road repairs following the wettest winter on record, and they say this will pay for the repair of 3.3 million potholes.
A total of 116 local highway authorities in England will receive a share of the funding.
The south east of England will receive a total of £44,575,080 to repair its battered roads.
Hampshire will be handed a total of £11,509,673, while Oxfordshire is set to receive £4,782,149. Neighbouring Wiltshire will get £3,010,025, while Surrey will be handed £5,341,676.
Mr McLoughlin said: "Damage to roads causes misery for drivers and local communities and the severe weather over the last few months has made the problem worse. This extra money will help make a real difference to the millions of road users and residents across England who rely on local roads, giving them safer and smoother journeys."
The heavy downpours left around 150 homes in West Berkshire flooded, forced businesses to close and caused disruption to local roads and transport services.