An extra £7.5 million each year for the next three years would be spent on repairing more potholes across Hampshire under new plans outlined by Hampshire County Council leader Cllr Rob Humby.

At the council’s cabinet meeting on Tuesday Cllr Humby announced its commitment to improve Hampshire’s roads amid lobbying of the prime minister with four neighbouring south-east highways authorities for more government investment to maintain the region’s road network in the longer term.

Cllr Humby said: “Anyone using roads in Hampshire and elsewhere will be fully aware of the impact of sustained severe weather on our highway network.

“We are fixing record numbers of potholes and road defects – around 1,000 repairs every week – but it’s still not enough to keep up with the number of defects on Hampshire’s 5,500 miles of roads.

“I will be bringing forward a proposal in July to add a further £7.5 million every year, over the next three years, to the county council’s highways budget which will change the focus of our road maintenance activity on a day-to-day basis.”