A CONSERVATIVE councillor has criticised Cumbria County Council for not spending Government money it received three months ago on fixing potholes.

The council received its 2018/19 funding of £2.9m in April of this year but has only so far only committed £216,000.

James Airey, Conservative group leader on CCC, said: "Why has the council spent almost three months deciding which potholes need to be repaired? I’m sure drivers and residents in South Lakeland could have told them in three minutes."

Cabinet member for Highways and Transport Cllr Keith Little explained that the money received from central government had been a 'sticking plaster' to the £300million worth of repairs needed to the county's roads.

He said the council received an additional £1.4m for 2017/18 in February this year, then received its 2018/19 funding of £2.9m in April.

"Pot-hole repair is weather dependent so we were unable to start spending the February money until the snow had cleared from the county’s roads and the weather had improved," he said.

"In recent months we have been accelerating our repair programme and have spent all of the £1.4m and so far committed £216,000 from the 2018/19 money. Including our general roads maintenance budget, almost £8m has been spent on highways repair so far this year. Pot-hole repair is a priority and we are making good progress in repairing the damage caused by one of the most severe winters in recent memory.”