East Lothian Council is spending an extra £3 million on the county's roads and drainage systems this financial year, due to the severe deterioration of road surfaces after the most severe winter for 50 years.

To carry out the necessary reconstruction and repairs, the Council has also spent £300k on two important pieces of equipment: a planer which mills and removes road surfaces ready for relaying, and a paver which lays new surfaces.

Council Leader Paul McLennan said: "It is important for the local economy and for the safety of our road users that we keep our road network, both urban and rural, in a good state of repair. Our transportation staff carried out studies earlier in the year that showed the severe winter weather had hit our roads hard and that if we did not make substantial invest in repairs beyond the £2.5 million originally budgeted, the condition of many of our roads would deteriorate to an unacceptable standard.

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"The fact that we have also invested in a new planer and paver that are state-of-the-art equipment underlines the administration's determination that our road network is a priority even in these tough economic times and will be maintained to a high standard."

The county has been divided into four sectors with priority one and two repair categories, to effectively carry out the programme - a combination of road reconstruction, repairs and drainage renovation - using three teams of planers and paving equipment which are laying 20,000 tonnes of road materials.

The rural network is given priority in the summer and autumn with urban roads generally being upgraded in the winter months. The repair programme is expected to be completed by the end of March 2011.

(GK/KMcA)