Councillors want more funding for roads and transport despite a £10 million handout by the Government.

East Sussex County Council has welcomed the increased funds for 2001/2 but says it needs more to carry out its full programme of works under the Local Transport Plan.

More than half the £10 million is to be spent on road maintenance alone, with another £4 million on schemes such as bus lanes, cycle routes and traffic calming schemes.

The remaining £1 million has been allocated to work on the A22 new-route schemes in conjunction with the Polegate bypass, which is already under construction.

Kathryn Field, lead cabinet member for transport on the county council, said the authority was delighted with the funding.

She said: "It's excellent news and a reflection of the hard work put into developing the Local Transport Plan by the county and its partners in a time of scarce resources.

"However, while there is increased funding for maintenance within the settlement, there is a serious backlog to be addressed that has been exacerbated by the recent floods. Further funding needs to be found to tackle this."

Other schemes in need of cash include the port access road to Newhaven and the long-awaited Hastings bypass.

The Highways Authority has the final decision on which schemes are to get priority from the funds.

Mrs Field said: "Good progress has been made with our transport plans but we still have a long way to go to fully develop them and achieve the sort of funding in our local transport system that this county deserves."

District and borough councils across East Sussex contributed to the Local Transport plan that sets out a blueprint for the future of road building and public transport.