THE council are spending £1.35m on highway repair works after another destructive winter has left walkways and roads riddled with pot holes.

The lump sum is being spent on general road and pathway repairs by Redbridge Council, but “urgent” pot holes over 40mm deep will be given priority.

It has also received an additional £123,900 from the Department for Transport (DfT) to help tackle roads damaged in winter 2009/10.

“Pot holes are a major issue for us,” said Rafael Gonzalez, a controller at Masons Car Service, a taxi firm in Woodford Green.

“If one causes our driver to have a crash then we’re suddenly one car short and it also means our drivers and passengers are unsafe.”

The council confirmed they are taking immediate action to fill pot holes in the borough after last year fixing around 12,000 of them with temporary repairs.

The repair work is “reactive”, meaning that holes will be filled on a ‘find and fix’ basis rather than taking preventative action to avoid future problems.

However, highway maintenance experts warned against implementing short-term measures, stating that they are more costly in the long run.