The UK Government is set to invest an additional £2.5bn to repair the country’s roads and fix potholes over the next five years.

The decision was announced ahead of the annual budget by the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak.

The government will invest £500m annually over the next five-year period to repair potholes in England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be allocated separate funding to rehabilitate roads, reported the BBC.

Part of the funding will be made available to the local authorities for resurfacing works.

Previously, the government allocated £1bn for road maintenance in England in 2020-21. The £500m additional funding will increase the total investment to £1.5bn, surpassing the £1.3bn total spent in 2018-19.

Responding to the move, Sunak was quoted by the BBC as saying: “We are going to eradicate the scourge of potholes in every part of the country.

“We can’t level up Britain and spread opportunity if we are spending our journeys dodging potholes and forking out for the damage they cause. It’s vital we keep roads in good condition.”

In the 2018 financial year, around 700,000 potholes were reported across England, according to research conducted by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

Last month, the government allocated £93.4m to 32 local authorities for essential road and bridge repair works. It also announced a funding of £900,000 for new research projects to improve the nation’s transport system.

Meanwhile, a new study recently found that UK road commuters lost an average of 115 hours in traffic congestion last year. It represents a loss of £6.9bn to the national economy.