AN EXTRA £500,000 has been set aside to fix potholes in the county’s roads.

Norman Hume, the councillor responsible for highways maintainence at Essex County Council, revealed the extra funds were needed after the damage done by the severe winter.

The money will be taken from other projects in the highways budget where there was an underspend, including land cost than initially projected.

Residents in Colchester have reported a string of roads which still have large potholes, including Highwoods Square, Heath Road and Berechurch Hall Road.

Mr Hume said: “I am ensuring resources have been allocated to deal with issues caused by the recent adverse weather conditions.

“Our teams of engineers are working across the county to carry out as many repairs as possible, in order to keep our roads in the condition our residents expect and deserve.

“I would like to remind residents we have to focus our efforts on areas that present the most immediate safety risks”

Gerard Oxford, borough councillor for High Woods, said the council needed to take preventive measures to stop potholes appearing. He said: “These potholes are the worst I have seen in my ten years as a councillor.

“Instead of being proactive and saying ‘we need to resurface the roads’, they are actually just patching.”

John Manning, Lib Dem borough councillor for Wivenhoe Cross, agreed the number of potholes are a sign of the poor upkeep of the roads.

He said: “The potholes are there because there’s been a lack of investment over the past ten to 15 years. There seems to be no strategic overview for what the county council is going to do.”

Sue Lissimore, Conservative borough councillor, defended the county council, despite the sizeable potholes in Heath Road in her ward of Prettygate.

She said: “Essex County Council is putting all the resources it can into this.”