COUNCILLORS has issued a withering response to a £1bn Government fund for new roads and by-passes, describing it as “too little and too late”.

Last week Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP Simon Clarke called on councils to “step up to the plate” and bid for cash from the fund, identifying Redcar and Cleveland as one local authority who should do so.

But in a press release from the Labour group on the authority, Councillor Christopher Massey, deputy leader and cabinet member for resources, said he wasn't "overly excited" about the announcement.

He said: “This new scheme will only kick in in 2020 and while £1bn sounds a lot, when it’s spread across the country, there will not be much on the table for individual councils.”

Cllr Massey suggested the Government needed to give equal prominence to improving public transport as well.

He said: “It is a crying shame that the direct railway line from Nunthorpe to Middlesbrough is a grossly underused asset.

“A fraction of the cash poured into London’s Crossrail scheme could transform the Nunthorpe link into a city style Metro, linking Redcar and Cleveland and South Middlesbrough to central Middlesbrough and onto Thornaby.”

Councillor David Walsh, Redcar and Cleveland Council’s adult services member, said new homes should be built within walking distance of shops, schools, work and public transport.

He said: “We have to get out of the syndrome of pushing new roads into countryside and building vast new out of town estates.”