LOCAL authorities need more than £10billion to get roads back into reasonable condition, according to a report.

The shortfall in the highway maintenance budget received from central Government by councils in 2011 amounted to £895million, 12 per cent up on last year, said the report from the Asphalt Industry Alliance.

The total number of potholes filled in 2010/11 reached more than 2.2 million - a 59 per cent increase on the previous year.

According to highways engineers, one in five local roadsare considered to be in poor condition.

Asked to estimate the level of one-off investment needed to get their roads back into reasonable condition, local authorities estimated that £10.65billion would be required.

This is an increase of £1.15billion on the amount estimated last year.The estimated time for clearing the backlog was 11 years.

Under-funding of highway maintenance programmes is believed by 90 per cent of local authorities to create a threat to road-user safety.

The total cost of the bad-weather damage to roads in early 2010 was estimated at £362 million.

On average, each local authority filled in an average of just under 16,000 potholes in 2010/11 at a cost of £53.81 per hole.