A NORTH-East authority has reduced the backlog of maintenance work on its road network in the last 12 months –but it still stands at more than £187m.

Durham County Council says it would cost £187.6m to bring all of its 3,792 kilometres of carriageway, 489 road bridges and 83,676 street columns to a good condition, as well as carrying out other maintenance on things like kerbs and drainage.

The figure is down from £191.7m the previous year.

Durham’s A, B and C roads are in better condition than the national average.

But according to its statistics the condition of County Durham’s unclassified roads are still below average, while a high proportion of footpaths need to be resurfaced.

The most recent survey of public satisfaction, carried out in 2016, found 45 per cent of people were satisfied with the state of highways in the county.

Funding for road maintenance has been increasing since 2010, when the capital maintenance budget was just £0.7m. This year, the council has a budget of £7.5m for roads.

An additional £0.7m was allocated last year to resurface unclassified roads because of an increase in the number of potholes.

Councillor Brian Stephens, cabinet member for neighbourhoods and local partnerships, said: “It’s one of the most important services for local residents and we are prioritising our budgets.”