ROADS in Mid Devon are set to benefit from the county council’s £7million repair fund as work to restore nearly 40 miles of road gets underway.

The council has begun work on almost 250 repair schemes, following the wettest winter on record, including nine stretches of road in Mid Devon.

Scheduled for repairs are: the A3126 Kennedy Way, Tiverton; the A396 Exeter Road, Tiverton; the A361 junction 27 Sampford Peverell roundabout; the A377 Barnstaple Cross, Crediton; the A377 Dunscombe; the A377 near Lynchgate, Copplestone; the B3181 Silver Street, Willand; the B3391 Hemyock; and Tiverton Road, Cullompton.

Devon received £7million of Severe Weather Recovery funding to help with repairs.

This was a share of £183½million the Department for Transport made available in response to the severe winter weather.

Since the grant allocation was announced earlier this year, Devon’s highways teams have been inspecting the areas with most potholes and discussing local need with its neighbourhood teams to draw up the programme.

The work includes surfacing and patching work, targeting mostly A and B roads, but also a number of schemes on C roads and minor roads.

More than 39,000 potholes have been filled so far in 2014 and this latest schedule of repairs will add to the ongoing recovery across the county’s highways.

Cllr Stuart Hughes, county council cabinet member for highway management and flood prevention, said: “Our highways teams have carried out a thorough inspection of our highway network to put together this programme and ensure that the funding is put to use where it can have most impact.

“The schemes which have been identified will cost-effectively repair and protect parts of our network.

“£7million will go some way towards covering the cost of some of the damage to Devon’s roads, but due to the size of our highway network it certainly won’t fund the repair of everything that was damaged over the winter.

“We’ve submitted a bid for a share of the £168million pothole grant and hopefully we will receive a fair share of this money which will enable the county council to continue with the recovery effort.”