Nearly £50 million will be spent improving some of the 2,000 miles of roads in East Sussex which are desperately in need of repair.

East Sussex County Council has decided to put aside money to help bring the highways back up to standard, after they were damaged by one of the wettest winters on record.

Earlier this month councillors approved £40 million of investment, £10 million of which will be targeted on unclassified roads – local roads intended for local traffic.

The funding is on top of £6.5 million for maintenance and improvement of pavements and highway drainage and £2.25 million for pothole repairs.

The money will be added to £2,645,187 from the Government as part of a £180 million road repair fund.

Councillor Carl Maynard, the council’s lead member for transport and environment, said: “The road network is vital to the prosperity of the county and the latest investment recognises this.

“Maintenance of our roads is a priority for the county council and £10 million of the additional investment has been earmarked for unclassified roads, including many of our smaller roads and lanes that support a wealth of small businesses.

“We are delighted that the Government has confirmed the £2.6 million payment, which will boost our efforts to repair the winter damage to our roads throughout East Sussex.”

The county council’s highways team has been forced to employ more than three times the normal number of maintenance workers since January as it struggles to cope with the growing road problems as well as the added drainage problems and fallen trees.

According to council figures workers have repaired more than 15,000 potholes so far this year.

Coun Maynard added: “The investment in roads in recent years is paying dividends and we are not seeing potholes forming in recently resurfaced roads.

“But the wet weather we have experienced since Christmas has caused an unprecedented amount of damage to many of our roads.”

The two-year resurfacing programme – which includes more than 400 roads – is currently being drawn up.