THE LEADER of the borough's highways department has once again bemoaned the lack of funding from central Government to repair roads.

Government chiefs have announced that Reading Borough Council will receive less than half the funding for potholes than neighbouring authorities next year.

The town's main authority is set to be handed £97,000 for pothole repairs in 2017/2018, nearly £40,000 more than it received in the last batch of pothole related windfalls.

However, the amount falls significantly short of neighbouring authorities', with Wokingham Borough Council getting £203,000 and West Berkshire Council receiving £336,000.

The cash is part of a £3m scheme to improve roads nationwide, and will see £70m splashed out on potholes from the government's coffers. The percentage coming to Reading Borough is less than 0.2 per cent of the total funding.

Councillor Tony Page, Reading Borough Council's lead member for highways, said: "Whilst we welcome the increase in the amount awarded in next year’s pothole repair fund, it is still a very poor comparison with the £238,000 we received three years ago."

The government estimates that each pothole costs an average of £53 to repair, meaning the cash is enough to repair 1,800 potholes.

The Department for Transport confirmed RBC will receive £1.309m to spend on general repairs and resurfacing of the town’s roads next year compared with £1.350m last year, £1.472m in 2015/16 and £2.546m in 2014/15.

Cllr Page added: "The amount the council receives to spend on general highway maintenance has also plummeted in recent years while our roads continue to carry a considerable amount of traffic.

"Unfortunately, this means next year’s road resurfacing programme will again be a poor reflection of what it was just two or three years ago when we were able to cover 20 main roads instead of just eight this year.

“However, the council will continue to push for the best possible value for money so the cash we do have goes as far as possible.”