BOLTON is £108 million short of the money it needs to bring its roads up to a good condition, it has been revealed.

The figure was given after concerns were raised at the about the state of the roads at the Breightmet Area Forum on Wednesday evening.

Cllr Debbie Newall, one of the ward councillors present at the meeting, said the reason many of the roads were not being worked on was because of the cut in funding to local authorities.

She initially believed the figure to be around the £70 million mark but a spokesman from Bolton Council revealed it to be £108 million.

This was the amount of money the authority would need if it wanted to bring all of the roads in the borough up to a ‘good standard’.

Cllr Debbie Newall said: “It is such a massive problem. Some of the roads are just dreadful.

“All the councillors are in total agreement with the residents but the funding just is not there.”

The debate at the forum, held at Waggon Road Youth Centre, came after it was revealed that thousands had been spent on treating Oakenbottom Road in Breightmet.

Some people at the meeting raised concerns about other roads in the area, including Breightmet Fold Lane and Crossdale Road.

One resident said: “There are that many potholes in Crossdale Road that they keep coming and filling them and four weeks later it needs doing again.”Another described the state of the roads around Breightmet as “disgraceful”.

There were some complaints about the amount of money had been spent on Oakenbottom Road, which took up much of the area forum’s budget for 2015 to 2017.

Cllr Newall said: “We had so many complaints about Oakenbottom Road and Breightmet Fold Lane was another one because it is such a critical place in the ward and so many people had reported it to us.

“But it is one of those problems when we do not have the funding and half of the budget is going on looking after vulnerable people living in the area. And there are different levels of repairs that have to be carried out. But I am totally in agreement with the residents, we all are.”

During the area forum, the councillors agreed to take the issues raised back to the highways department at the authority.

The spokesman from Bolton Council revealed the figure of £108 million was recorded before the winter and said it was likely to to be more than that following the snowy and cold weather.

It was reported yesterday that the recent blast of freezing weather will lead to a further spike in potholes on UK roads.

Initial figures released by the RAC showed pothole related breakdowns already doubled following last week’s widespread snow and ice.

Freezing water in road cracks when the Beast from the East struck has broken up surfaces already plagued by potholes, the firm said as it marked National Pothole Day.

And a spokesman from the Local Government revealed it would cost £12 billion and take 10 years for councils to clear the backlog of pothole repairs.

People can report potholes on the Bolton Council website, via e-mail at streetcare@bolton.gov.uk or by calling 01204 336600.