A £40M plan to deal with a maintenance backlog is being drawn up by a Teesside council.

Officers at Hartlepool Borough Council are working on a ten-year strategy to repair, upgrade and maintain public buildings and roads.

More than £3m is needed just to deal with repairs to the Civic Centre, on Victoria Road, which is more than 30 years old.

About £684,000 is needed for the Mill House Leisure Centre, in Raby Road, and £353,000 for Rossmere Primary School, in Catcote Lane.

A council spokesman said: "Our day-to-day maintenance of highways and buildings is good, but we are aware there is a significant need for investment to halt further deterioration.

"While the investment necessary is likely to be in the order of £40m, it should be borne in mind that it will be necessary to support that over a number of years to improve the overall condition of roads and buildings.

"Further work will be done next year to draw up an investment strategy to tackle this over the next ten years."

The spokesman added that most councils faced similar problems in maintaining ageing buildings after a public property building boom in the 1960s.

Hartlepool Borough Council currently owns 170 buildings.

The maintenance strategy was recently discussed at a resources scrutiny committee meeting.