MORE than £5 million pounds will be spent fixing potholes across Sussex As part of their biggest road investment scheme since the 1970s, the Government Westminster is splashing out £168 million country-wide to fill more than three million potholes by March next year.

And as part of the pothole fund East Sussex County Council has been allocated £2.65 million, West Sussex County Council £2.5 million and Brighton and Hove City Council £260,832.

Roger Williams, head of highways at East Sussex County Council, said: “We know that potholes can cause real problems to motorists and, so far this year, we have repaired more than 27,000.

“This money will enable us to carry on the good work we are doing to deal with the results of the wettest winter on record and prepare our roads for the winter ahead.”

The announcement comes on top of the £185 million made available by the Government in March to help repair roads affected by severe weather damage.

A spokesperson for West Sussex County Council said: “We are very pleased that our application for additional funding has resulted in £2.5million being allocated to West Sussex, in addition to the £30 million Better Roads Programme that we are rolling out over the next two years to improve the condition of rural and residential roads.”

“We are currently filling more than 150 potholes a day across West Sussex, with 12 full time gangs and six pothole patrols helping to fill approximately 1,200 potholes a week.”

The Government has promised a further £7.4 billion will be spent on roads in the next parliament, along with funding from the £12 billion Local Growth Fund.

Extra money is being given to councils which demonstrate the “best practice in highways maintenance”, including bringing in specialist machinery or setting up dedicated repair teams.