Northamptonshire's Mr Pothole less than impressed with £2.5bn road repair fund announced in Budget

Northamptonshire campaigner Mr Pothole believes the £2.5 billion road repair fund revealed in the Budget is not even close to being enough.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak announced the money will be spent on repairing 50 million potholes in Britain over the next five years yesterday (Wednesday, March 11).

Mark Morrell, the former Brackley mayor who has campaigned nationally for pothole reform, described the scheme as like 'p****** in the ocean'.

"It's nowhere near enough money. We don't know if it's new money or just regurgitated money from an old fund," he said.

"Northamptonshire County Council alone has a £500 million total road maintenance backlog, and Kent has said it has a £630 million backlog.

"If you divide it around the 117 councils in England and Wales, Northamptonshire might get an extra £4 million so I can't see it making much difference."

During his first Budget speech, Mr Sunak told the House of Commons: "I’m announcing new investment in local roads, alongside a new £2.5 billion pothole fund.

"That’s £500 million every single year; enough to fill, by the end of the Parliament, 50 million potholes."

Mr Morrell believes the focus should be shifted to resurfacing roads rather than filling potholes as that is a 'waste of taxpayers' money'.

With winter turning to spring, potholes are becoming more common after the wet and cold weather, with Mr Pothole reporting a five-fold increase in requests for advice from motorists.

Three new pothole-fixing machines, said to be more efficent, environmentally-friendly and cost-effective, have been purchased by the council and will soon be in use.

Mr Morrell welcomed the investment but believes the council needs even more equipment and members of staff to fix the county's roads.

Cabinet member for highways and place, Jason Smithers, welcomed the extra money from the Government to improve roads experiencing increased deterioration due to severe winters and the recent heavy rainfall.

“We will need to see just how this money can be used and how much will be available here in Northamptonshire," he said.

“Northamptonshire County Council has already taken steps to boost pot hole repairs by agreeing at cabinet this week to purchase two new thermal road repair machines– which can each triple the repair rate of conventional methods – and a Roadmaster jet patching machine.”