Westminster City Council is calling on the Government to review proposed road maintenance cuts of up to 25% after the severe weather left local authorities with a £15-£20m roads repair bill.

Cllr Danny Chalkley, Westminster City Council's Cabinet Member for City Management, said: "Our roads are among the busiest in the country and we work tirelessly to ensure they can handle the huge volumes of traffic which are vital to keep the economy running, but this comes at a significant cost.

"We are expecting cuts of up to 25% in Government transport funding, which couldn't come at a worse time. We are therefore urging the Department for Transport to take the exceptional circumstances we have faced this winter into account."

More than 600,000 vehicles a day travel along Westminster's 210 mile network of roads. The council's combined capital programme and revenue budget for roads is £3.75m. It also gets annual grant from TfL for Principal Roads of approximately £600,000, which is set to drop by 25% due to cuts in grant awarded by the Department for Transport.

This funding will be stretched to pay for the damages at a time when we want London to look great ready for the Olympics in 2012. The Council is lobbying the DfT through the Mayor of London, who along with TfL, London Councils and the Local Government Association is lobbying the DfT for extra funding.

The total cost for the capital's local authorities, including TfL's network, is estimated at between £15-£20m.

Martin Low, Westminster Council's City Commissioner of Transportation, as well as the President of The Local Government Technical Advisers Group, said: "Councils in London together spend around £80m a year on road maintenance. A sizeable chunk of this will needed to service the extensive damage to the road network as a result of the severe weather. Initial estimates that each borough is facing an average additional £500,000 bill for road repairs, but over the coming months as the damage to the tarmac takes effect and the full extent of the costs become apparent."

Motorists can report details of potholes that have appeared recently online at: http://www.westminster.gov.uk/services/streetproblems/

<http://www.westminster.gov.uk/services/streetproblems/>  or call the Environment Action Line quoting 'potholes' on 020 7641 2000.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

DfT grant for road maintenance on Principal Roads is paid to TfL which then distributes it to London boroughs

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