More than £27 million have been earmarked to improve and maintain roads in Sussex.

Transport minister Keith Hill announced the financial package yesterday, which will come into effect from April 2001 and be spent during the following two years.

East Sussex is to receive £12.3 million, West Sussex £13.2 million and Brighton and Hove Council £2.3 million to spend on highway maintenance.

The cash is part of a national £535 million package the Government has allocated for capital and maintenance work for local highways, with a further £555 million for 2002 to 2003.

Brighton Pavilion MP David Lepper said the announcement was good news for Brighton and Hove Council which would now be able to tackle poor road surfaces.

He said: "It sounds like good news to me. Many of my constituents have complained about roads and road surfaces in residential areas."

West Worthing MP Peter Bottomley said West Sussex was desperate for the money and had been starved of cash.

He hoped it was the Government's way of saying sorry to the county for underfunding.

Brighton Kemp Town MP Des Turner said: "I think this is a good development because East Sussex roads are behind on maintenance.

"Whether this is enough I couldn't comment on but it sounds like a significant contribution."

Mr Hill said: "This is good news for all road users. In our ten-year plan for transport we pledged to rectify the backlogs in repairing carriageways, footways, bridges and street lighting.

"Our roads have been in a poor state for long enough. Repairing them requires significant additional resources and we are committed to making these available.

"We are making our roads safer and better for all road users."