Councils are to share an extra £15 million - three times last year's level - to cover the impact of the big freeze on Scotland's roads.

The Scottish Government will make the money available to deal with urgent repairs on local roads and cover the extra costs of winter roads maintenance.

Finance Secretary John Swinney said: "Last month, Scotland faced its coldest December in 100 years - in these extreme conditions it is no surprise that significant additional costs were incurred.

"Both Transport Scotland, who maintain the trunk road network on behalf of the Scottish Government, and councils who look after local roads, have worked extremely hard over the last couple of months to keep our roads passable. The tremendous efforts of many people to keep Scotland moving, and the costs of additional salt supplies, have however come at a price. Some roads are now in need of urgent attention, and on the main trunk roads and on local roads, drivers are having to deal with potholes and potentially difficult road conditions.

-- Advertisement --

"This additional expenditure is an equal pressure on councils and the Scottish Government and I have considered COSLA's case for additional resources. I have agreed to release an additional £15 million for this financial year, allocated across all councils, to cover the exceptional cost of extra winter roads maintenance required this winter and to help councils deal with necessary road repairs. This is three times the extra amount we provided last year and I believe the severity of the conditions faced by councils merits an increase of that size."

The money is for the financial year 2010-2011 and the exact distribution formula will be discussed further with COSLA.

(GK)