COPELAND looks set to receive £1.8m to patch up pothole-riddled roads across the borough – a tiny fraction of the £24.5m needed.

The programme of works is expected to cover not only repairs to its struggling road network, but also drainage and street lighting improvements.

Kevin Cosgrave, Highways Network Manager for Copeland, set out the full list of works to be carried out with the cash to “emphasise the challenge” facing cash-strapped Highways chiefs.

“More than £24m of work has been identified and the budget I have is £1.8m,” he said.

Members of the county council’s local committee for Copeland agreed to accept the cash, which is dependent on the county council cabinet’s confirmation of the devolved highways budget allocations for 2019/20.

At the end of last year, it emerged Cumbria as whole has seen a 94 per cent rise in the number of pothole reports between 2015 and 2017.

Responding to the crisis, highway chiefs in Copeland said that local knowledge and public demand have driven the priorities for the latest round of repairs.

Emma Williamson, Labour councillor for Kells and Sandwith, described it as “shocking” how much work had to be carried out with so little money.

She said: “People reporting issues have more or less got zero chance of getting the work done. I was verbally abused at the last public meeting I attended on the highways [by people angry over the state of the roads].

“I have gone through three new tyres in eight months.”

The news comes after it was reported that an unexpected £12m Government windfall may have to be returned if highway chiefs can’t spend it by March.

The Department for Transport (DfT) stipulated that the funds must be used by the end of the financial year.

However, Copeland Local Committee’s share works out at around £844,000 on top of the £1.8m from the Highways’ budget.

The Government’s capital allocation for highways and transport is not ring-fenced and it is up to each top tier authority’s how funding is distributed.

The cash for potholes and roads maintenance was announced in November after being trailed in the autumn budget.