BOLTON was forced to spend more than a third more than expected keeping the town's roads snow free during the severe winter.

Highways chiefs spent an extra £104,000 after councillors ordered them to keep Bolton's roads gritted whatever the cost.

The council was heavily criticised in January after snowfalls led to gridlock mayhem on the iced up roads.

An inquiry into the failure a month later pointed out that the winter maintenance budget had been slashed by half in recent years and concluded the council would have to spend much more if they wanted to keep the roads free from ice.

This week highways chiefs highways chiefs submitted a bill for winter maintenance costs of £484,000 - a third over their budget of £380,000.

The Management and Finance committee agreed to fund the overspend for last year.

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