MOTORISTS in the North-East and North Yorkshire will benefit from better roads due to the Government awarding £40m for repairs.

The Department for Transport has revealed that £23m of the £420m announced in the Budget for roads and repairs will be spent in the North-East, whilst almost £14m will be spent in North Yorkshire.

The Tees Valley region is going to be getting a total of £4.19m for general road repairs, rather than to be used for big projects.

Roads Minister Jesse Noman said: “Potholes are a huge problem for all road users, and too often we see issues occurring at the same place time after time.

“That is why the Government is investing more in improving our roads than at any time before - £15bn between 2015 and 2020 and a further £28.8bn to 2025. Plus an immediate extra £420m for potholes and local road maintenance just this year."

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said: “While we are driving forward long-term, multi-hundreds of millions of pounds roads projects such as the New Tees Crossing and Darlington bypass, we can’t lose sight of the day-to-day niggles that plague the roads across our five boroughs.

"I hope our local authorities use this money wisely to sort out problems such as potholes, uneven surfaces and disrepair, making for smoother journeys.

“This roads cash sits on top of the extra £16.5m we received in the Budget, bringing our public transport fund to £75.5m."

Redcar MP Anna Turley said: “The conditions on many of our roads have been getting worse and worse over recent years, largely because the funding to keep them in a good condition as all but dried up.

"Where local councils would once have the resources to repair potholes, losing millions of pounds in central government grants has made this task almost impossible.

"This extra funding is welcome and is badly needed but it follows eight years of austerity which has led to our roads deteriorating in the first place."