More than 450 potholes are being repaired every week in Brighton and Hove after the coldest December for 100 years.
But Brighton and Hove City Council is having to carry out the work with less money than it received after the double bout of snow during the previous winter.
Councillor Gill Mitchell, leader of the Brighton and Hove Labour group, said that the council had paid out thousands of pounds in legal settlements as a result of the proliferation of potholes.
Now she has written to the Transport Secretary Philip Hammond to urge the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition not to cut the council’s pothole repair budget.
Councillor Mitchell said that last year the Labour government gave councils an extra £100 million to deal with the damage caused by a winter with two separate spells of snow – a winter that was recently described by chief executive John Barradell as “a once in 200 years event”.
She said that Brighton and Hove received an extra £151,000.
But now, after another extreme winter period, she said, the government had chosen to cut council transport budgets by £65 million, leading to a £165 million shortfall compared with last year.
Councillor Mitchell said: “Following last year’s severe winter, the then Labour government recognised these issues and gave councils across the country a little extra money to deal with the increase in potholes.
“However, the new Tory-led government has unfairly chosen to cut funding to councils to deal with potholes.
“Labour is concerned that this cut in pothole funding from central government could leave Brighton and Hove with severely damaged roads, putting the council at risk of further law suits.
“That’s why we’re writing to Tory Transport Secretary Philip Hammond, urging him to think again before cutting council pothole funding.”
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