SIDMOUTH and Ottery representatives will be involved in a decision-making process that will determine where �9.3million will be splashed to permanently repair weather-ravaged roads across Devon.

SIDMOUTH and Ottery representatives will be involved in a decision-making process that will determine where �9.3million will be splashed to permanently repair weather-ravaged roads across Devon.

Devon County Council’s (DCC) cabinet last week ruled its highways experts should consult all of its members to confirm which routes are most in need of some of the Department for Transport cash- part of a �200 million national handout.

Major and minor roads, in both rural and urban areas, will be eligible.

The funding will be used for permanent repairs rather than “ad-hoc” pothole filling, according to DCC.

“We will make the money go as far as it can but it won’t solve all of the problems on our roads,” said Councillor Stuart Hughes, DCC cabinet member for highways and transportation.

“We want to take advantage of local knowledge of members as they know the roads that are most important in their areas.

“Our priority must be to keep the A and B roads in good condition because they carry the heaviest traffic flows and are most important to the local economy. But we can go further, and I’m keen to see some of this funding used for rural roads which need patching, and also urban estate roads, footways, particularly where there are trip hazards, and routes used by cyclists and buses.”

All of the schemes will be scheduled for completion before the end of March 2012. The latest funding has been added to �7million already earmarked by DCC for pothole repairs.

A record 200,000 potholes were fixed on Devon’s roads in 2010 – around five times more than in 2009.