NORTHUMBERLAND County Council has welcomed a share of £100m in emergency government funding to deal with potholes in the aftermath of the ‘Beast from the East’.

Transport secretary Chris Grayling awarded the council £1.85m to repair roads in the county which were badly damaged during the winter weather.

The Department for Transport has already given Northumberland County Council a Pothole Action Fund grant worth £930,000 this winter.

And the council itself has made an extra £420,000 available to improve the condition of road surfaces.

The funding is thought to be the largest grant awarded to a North-East council, but Coun. Glen Sanderson, cabinet member for environment and local services, feels more support is needed.

Coun. Sanderson said: “I’m pleased we’ve been able to secure extra funding for pothole repairs as we’ve been calling on the Government for extra support.

“This latest money will allow us to continue our ongoing pothole repair programme across Northumberland.

“However, we will also continue to press our case that Northumberland has been hit particularly badly by the severe weather this winter.

“While this additional pothole funding is warmly welcomed, further support is required to ensure we can repair all of the wider and underlying damage to our highway network and not just repair individual potholes as they appear.”

The combination of freezing temperatures and heavy snow and rain throughout the winter months meant the region’s roads were subjected to repeated cycles of freezing and thawing.

This led to a significant increase in the number of potholes in Northumberland.