An additional £1.5 million is to be invested in road maintenance after it was given priority approval by the Highland Council.

The additional money will help to boost the annual budget for pothole repairs, clearing culverts, and bridge maintenance.

The Highland Council has the longest road network in the UK with over 4,000 miles of local roads and 1,400 bridges.

The funding will be shared out across Highland according to the existing roads maintenance allocation model. Each area committee will be able to decide how their share is allocated locally, based on local road condition surveys.

Chair of the Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee Cllr Allan Henderson said: "We have the most extensive network of roads in the UK and added to this, we are faced with some of the most severe weather conditions in the Highlands. The freeze-thaw conditions in particular cause immense damage to road surfaces and this is very evident in the past few weeks.

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"Local roads are vital to connecting our communities and keeping them sustainable. Road conditions are a high priority for local residents and this was very clear in our recent engagement with communities and local representatives. The additional resource will, I hope, make a noticeable difference and can be allocated to the roads with the most urgent need of repairs, right across the Highlands."

The Area allocations have been calculated using the historic distribution formula which uses weighted road mileage and population. The allocation will be as follows:

• Badenoch & Strathspey - £84,750

• Caithness - £164,400

• Inverness - £244,950

• Lochaber - £148,950

• Nairn - £66,900

• Ross & Cromarty - £365,400

• Isle of Skye - £132,150

• Sutherland - £292,500

• Total - £1,500,000

Trunk roads including the A9, A82, A96 and A87 are managed by Transport Scotland and maintained by Bear Scotland.