Extra £250k a year found to tackle York's 'pothole problem'

The money will come from ward budgets – cash normally set aside to allow local ward councillors to grant funds for minor projects in their own neighbourhoods.

York’s new Labour transport boss Pete Kilbane admitted the new cash would be just a drop in the ocean.

He said there was a backlog of roads maintenance work in York that would cost £190 million to complete.

That’s more than the council’s entire £130 million annual budget.

But Cllr Kilbane said the extra £250K – which will be on top of the existing £7.7million annual roads maintenance budget – would make a difference.

If the scheme is approved by Full Council, the extra cash will be used to trial a different way of repairing potholes – ones in which repairs go much deeper and therefore will be longer-lasting.

“The repairs will last 15-20 years, rather than just being patched up so that we have to go back again,” he said.

Cllr Kilbane said everyone who used York’s roads – whether they were cyclists or motorists – knew what a ‘terrible state’ they were in.

He said: “This will mean that we can start to tackle the problem.”

But Liberal Democrat spokesperson Cllr Stephen Fenton said there was no new money - just money taken away from ward committees.

"All this is doing is taking the decision on how this highways money is spent away from residents and giving control back to the council officers," he said.

"This is not additional investment in highways this is merely centralisation of funding decisions. Instead of empowering communities to deliver meaningful change this will mean residential roads will fall into further disrepair.”