MORE than £150m has been allocated over the next 11 years to improve the quality of roads in Cumbria.

The £8.3 billion national scheme will see Westmorland and Furness Council granted an additional £4.69 million before the end of the 2024/2025 financial year on top of its current allocation to resurface roads.

MP for Barrow and Furness Simon Fell said: “It is great to see government once again invest in my constituency of Barrow and Furness. This time, by giving the local council £156 million to improve our local roads.

“The state of local roads and amount potholes throughout the area are one of the most frequent issues to land in my inbox, and I look forward to seeing this money fix those very problems.”

The funding is part of the £36 billion Network North scheme to improve transport throughout the country, which was announced by prime minister Rishi Sunak after the northern leg of HS2 between Birmingham and Manchester was scrapped.

Cabinet member for highways and assets councillor Peter Thornton (Kendal Strickland and Fell, Lib Dems) said: “I welcome the recognition that we need more money to keep our roads to a reasonable standard and clearly the small increase in our grant is very welcome and we will use it well.

“As far as the commitment for future governments to deliver, we’ll have to see what happens, and I’ve learnt in my many years as a councillor that things change rapidly from year to year.”

The government say the £8.3 billion in national funding is enough money to resurface over 5,000 miles of roads across the country.

Transport secretary Mark Harper, said: “Today’s biggest-ever funding uplift for local road improvements is a victory for all road users, who will enjoy smoother, faster and safer trips – as we use redirected HS2 funding to make the right long-term decisions for a brighter future.”

Mr Fell added: “I will be contacting the council to find out where they intend to use this funding and would be keen to hear constituent’s views on how they think the money should be spent.”