The Highland Council is to meet this week to discuss investing £1 million in the region's roads infrastructure.

The local authority will decide whether £1m of a recent £2m Scottish Government grant will be allocated towards roads.

In addition, the 2017 Strategic Timber Transport Fund (STTF) is to offer £7.85m nationally of co-funding support to projects that strengthen public roads and reduce disruption by timber haulage.

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In December 2015, the council approved an additional £24.5m for roads, bridges and piers to be included in the Capital Plan, together with an additional provision of £1.6m for minor flood works over 10 years.

Cllr Allan Henderson said: "We have nearly 7,000 km of roads in the Highlands and this network is vital to our rural communities and lifeline services. Every penny invested in maintaining this critical network also helps to support our tourism and business economy as well as improve connectivity for everyone in the Highlands."

Budget Leader Councillor Bill Fernie said: "We have already committed a significant amount of capital investment into our road infrastructure over the next few years and this is an opportunity to add to that investment and attract additional match funding."

The council will meet on Thursday, 09 March.

(LM/CD)