ST HELENS will receive £129,000 in additional funding to help fix the borough’s potholes.

The money comes from a £100 million pothole fund announced by the Government in March.

The Liverpool City Region was previously awarded £1.34 million from the Pot Hole Action Fund by the Department for Transport for 2017/18, with St Helens receiving £186,000.

In February, the Combined Authority was notified that an additional allocation of £921,055 from the fund had been awarded to the city region for the 2017-18 financial year.

At the Combined Authority’s transport committee on Wednesday, the allocation for each local authority was agreed upon, using the previously agreed DfT formula.

St Helens will receive £128.948 in additional funding. Knowsley will receive £101.316, with Sefton receiving £156.579 and Halton receiving £110.527.

Liverpool will receive the highest allocation, with £239.474 followed by Wirral, with £184.211.

Cllr Liam Robinson, chairman of the committee, said the extra funding was a “drop in the ocean”.

“We’re talking about sticking plasters with all of this,” the Liverpool City councillor said.

“And frankly when we look at the way the kind of funding’s been cut to local government and the way it’s had a direct impact on our highway network in this city region and beyond, it’s not just here, whilst we know this money will get used well it’s nowhere near the amount that’s required.

“When we think about the amount local road users pay to the Treasury a much better allocation is certainly warranted.”

Wirral councillor Steve Foulkes said “unfair” funding allocations in the past has contributed to the state of the region’s roads.

He said: “Historically this government has not favoured the North and particularly northern authorities, and this seems to be fair in terms of the methodology used.

“All those other unfair allocations that we’ve had in the past have put adverse and a lot more pressure on the Highways Department of each of the local authorities.

“We’re all approaching this sort of graph of doom scenario where the only funding available will go on adult social care or children’s services, in these sorts of broad terms.

“And we’re all approaching that sort of position.

“This is welcome because any extra money is welcome, but those other pressures put on by central government have probably meant our roads in the North are in a slightly worse condition than other areas that have had more fairer funding in the past.”

Given the timing of the notification of additional funds, the DfT will allow the associated capital maintenance works to be undertaken during the 2018-19 financial year.