AUTHORITIES across the North East are to benefit from an £82m pot for road safety measures.

The cash forms the annual local transport capital settlement for 2007 to 2008, given to each local authority and dependent in part on the quality of each council's plans.

The money will be used for better street lighting, road maintenance, park-and-ride facilities and cycle lanes.

The plans drawn up by Darlington, Durham, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland were all rated good, but neighbouring Stockton was only rated fair.

Darlington is set to benefit from thousands of pounds of Government funding.

It will receive an additional £226,000 for 2007-08 and an additional £686,000 over the period of the second Local Transport Plan (2006-2011)

Nick Wallis, Darlington Council's cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "It is by focusing on the important areas like road safety and the condition of our roads and pavements that we have achieved this very good result. "

In addition, Darlington has also been allocated £1.281m for maintenance in 2007-08, an increase on this year's allocation of £1.125m.

Nationally, local transport received a £1.25bn cash boost from the Government.

The money is in addition to a previously-announced £110m road safety grant, which replaces the previous system of funding speed cameras through income from fines.

From April 1, cameras are being integrated into the local transport plan systems and councils will have greater flexibility to use this grant to implement any locally-agreed mix of road safety measures.

The £1.25bn investment is the Local Transport Capital Settlement, which is given to local authorities each year to help them deliver transport improvements in their communities.

The money will fund a range of improvements, including road safety measures, better street lighting, road maintenance, park-and-ride facilities and cycle lanes.

Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander said: "The Government has invested more than £9bn in local transport in the past six years. The improvements made with this money have benefited passengers, motorists and local businesses across the country.

"We have seen sustained progress in reducing local road casualties. The condition of many local road networks is improving. Better infrastructure for buses, cyclists and pedestrians has been put in place so local transport is making a contribution to more sustainable development and economic growth."