A £3.55m Government handout will be used to plug some of the county’s pothole-damaged roads.

This week, Oxfordshire County Council confirmed the one-off sum would be spent over the next two years.

The council allocated the money after the Government confirmed what other one-off grants would be received.

Fears had grown that some of the county’s roads would suffer from a £1m cut in the Area Stewardship Fund, which local councillors often used to address highway problems in their wards.

But the county council decided to free up the cash after problems caused by a lengthy spell of bad winter weather.

It could not provide a breakdown of what roads would be worked on when questioned, but said officers were drawing up a plan.

Spokesman Marcus Mabberley said: “Work is already under way in terms of determining the detail about the nature of such work, and where and when it will be carried out.

“The council had been waiting to see how many of the other grants it receives would be cut during the winter and spring and this information was not fully provided by central Government until after the council set its budget in February.”

Officers are scrutinising the type of work needed to carry out long-term repairs and how much it will cost.

Oxfordshire County Council leader Ian Hudspeth said the allocation of the £3.55m was “good news” for Oxfordshire residents.