A NUMBER of roads in the Crediton area are in line for major repairs thanks to Devon County Council.

The county council has unveiled a £2 million road repairs programme for the county's roads, £763,000 of which is to be spent in East and Mid Devon and Exeter.

This will include 34 roads in Bampton, Bow, Cheriton Bishop, Coleford, Cotleigh, Cullompton, Exeter, Exmouth, Feniton, Honiton, Kerswell, Luppitt, New Buildings, Sheldon, Shobrooke, Silverton, Southleigh, Templeton, Thorverton, Washfield, Whimple and Zeal Monachorum.

The major schemes include £120,000 of repairs at Saunders Way to Stagg Corner in Cullompton and £79,500 on the stretch from Knowles Wood Cross to Downlands Cross.

The county council has pledged that highway maintenance is one of its priorities and it is embarking on the major capital investment to maintain the county's highway network, targeting roads where intervention now can protect them from further deterioration.

The capital funding was allocated following the effect of last winter which left Devon with an estimated repair bill of around £8 million over and above that of a normal winter.

Devon has identified 88 schemes throughout the county, covering more than 80 miles of road for an extensive programme of patching ahead of them being resurfaced in 2010.

The county council's highway engineers have spent the past few months analysing safety inspections, road condition surveys and reports from the public to identify which roads would benefit most from a share of the funding.

Councillor Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: "This £2 million of funding is not a quick fix, and it won't enable us to repair all of the roads across the county that may need some attention.

"It's not as simple as just throwing extra money at this problem and we have made sure we have taken time to assess the county's roads before making any fundamental decisions. I'm delighted that our highways teams have carried out a thorough examination of our road network and have carefully identified roads where we can have the most impact.

"We are targeting over 80 miles of Devon's extensive highway network, and by intervening now, this work will extend the life of these roads for up to another 10 years. These may not necessarily be the worst roads in Devon, but by getting them into a fit state for surface dressing we can cover a wider area and repair more roads than if we had just concentrated on a few."

The repair work will be undertaken in rural areas this autumn to prepare minor lanes for surface dressing next summer. Residential streets in large urban areas will also receive a micro-asphalt surfacing treatment.

More than £660,000 will be spent in North and West Devon, improving 22 roads, while 32 schemes will be completed at a cost of £580,000.

Councillor Hughes has been travelling the county's roads, talking to local people and visiting each of the County Council's area highways offices to discuss the condition of the county's 8,000 miles of roads, which is the biggest road network of any highway authority in the country.

DCC is now waiting to hear if it has been successful with its formal submissions for additional funding from the Government to deal with damage caused over the winter, which left Devon with an estimated repair bill of around £8 million over and above that of a normal winter.