MORE than £2.5m is to be spent on road and bridge maintenance in Darlington in the next two years, after a cash boost which exceeded expectations.

The announcement, made this week by the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions means that £1.35m will be spent on maintenance during the 2001 to 2002 financial year.

A further £1.398m will be spent in the 2002 to 2003 financial year, taking the total spending to £2.748m.

But although Darlington Borough Council is celebrating the cash injection, Durham County Council says increased Government funding will not be enough to tackle the backlog of repairs and maintenance on its roads.

The Darlington road repairs programme will see resurfacing, surface dressing and general repairs carried out on A roads throughout the borough.

A road maintenance survey has been carried out on the principal roads and schemes have already been identified and prioritised by Darlington Borough Council, which is responsible for the work.

The council had only bid for a total of £2.65m.

More is expected in the near future as the authority awaits the result of its bids for cash for traffic and road safety improvements.

Roads which will benefit from this funding include the A67, where work will be done on Grange Road, Goosepool and the roads to the west of Darlington.

There will also be work on the A68 at various locations, including West Auckland Road and the Burtree to Swan House stretch, and west of Houghton-le-Side.

The A167 ring road, and the A1150 at various locations, including Whinfield Road and Little Burdon, will also benefit from the investment.

The borough council is also responsible for maintaining 84 road bridges, each of which has had a safety check.

Among the bridges identified for maintenance work under the programme are the C55 John Street Bridge, C180 Parkside Bridge, C55 Newton Lane No. 2, B6275 Denton Bow Bridge, C37 Bishopton Bridge and the C39 Dene Beck Bridge.

Councillor Nick Wallis, the borough council's cabinet member for highways and transport, described the money and the work to be done as "great news".

He said: "Next year's settlement is 50 per cent up on last year and more than four times the amount we received in 1997.

"The Government recognises the scale of the problem we have with our roads in Darlington and it has given us the cash to sort it out."