AROUND £3.4m less was spent resurfacing roads across Dorset in the last financial year compared with pre-pandemic levels, figures show.

In 2020/21 the total distance of highways resurfaced decreased by just under 150 miles compared to 2018/19, a Freedom of Information by the Dorset Echo has revealed.

For the financial year starting in 2018 219.6 miles, or 353.4km, of road was resurfaced across the Dorset Council area, costing £10,652,919.

A total of £11,813,954 was spent in 2019-20 across 160.1 miles, or 257.66km, of highways.

Dorset Echo:

And from April 2020 until April 2021 that figure decreased to £7,242,946 across 72.7 miles - 117.03km, of road.

Dorset Council cited measures arising from the Covid-19 pandemic and other programmes being deferred as the reasons behind the drop in funding and distance of roads resurfaced.

Councillor Ray Bryan, Dorset Council Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, said: “Measures put in place during at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020 meant we lost several months of resurfacing delivery.

“On top of this, our entire surface dressing and micro-surfacing programmes were deferred as it was not possible to carry them out safely within Covid-19 restrictions, and our in-house workforce was redeployed to support the delivery of prescriptions and meals to vulnerable residents who were isolating.

“In recognition of worsening road condition where repairs were deferred during 2020, along with a drop in funding from the Department for Transport in 2020/21, Dorset Council Cabinet recently agreed £6.3m in corporate funds to support highway maintenance.”

The council did confirm that the 2019/20 and 2020/21 figures in the original FOI did not include the full surface dressing or micro asphalt programmes and provided the updated distances.

Cllr Bryan continued “This additional investment will allow us to carry out extensive programmes of work in 2022/23 including micro-surfacing, in-situ recycling, surface dressing, road preservation, patching and resurfacing.

“With Dorset Council’s extra contribution of £6.3m, and thanks to early intervention treatments such as surface dressing, we’re able to manage the condition of our road network in a steady state and we continue to perform positively when compared to other authorities.”