Ernie Clark. Hilperton Division, Wiltshire Council.

Let's hopr that WC gets on with it...

Wiltshire Council will receive £3.7million to fill in potholes after the government announced it was doubling the amount of funding available.

The money will help the council repair damage caused by the freezing weather this winter. Last year it received £1.4m from the government.

The council has already budgeted more than £12 million for road repairs for the next financial year, an increase of £400,000 on last year.

The extra funding will be used to repair sections of the worst affected roads across the county. This will provide a longer term solution than just filling in potholes.

Dick Tonge, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: 'We thought the winter before last was bad but this winter was far colder for far longer. The money we spent last year resulted in less damage to the roads during the terrible weather in December. Our engineers have been working hard to repair the damage that was caused and this extra £3.7million is very welcome, and will make a big difference in preparing the roads to survive bad weather in the future. The extra money will also offset the greatly increased cost of bitumen which has risen sharply due to the increase in oil prices.

'We will develop a programme of repairs to tackle the worst affected stretches of roads, something I know residents will welcome.'

Details of how the money will be spent will be published on the council's website by the end of September.

Presumably those Conservative councillors who claimed, at the last council meeting, that they had received compliments about how good our roads are, are now eating a huge slice of humble pie and realising how stupid their cheap political posturing has made them look.