CROW country’s pothole problems could soon be solved thanks to a huge �6.5million boost to help fix damaged roads.

The area had been badly hit by frost this winter, with many motorists complaining of damage to cars and dangerous driving conditions.

But now Hertfordshire County Council has received �3.8million and Cambridgeshire County Council has been given �2.7million out of the Department for Transport’s �100million exceptional payment fund.

North Herts East MP Oliver Heald, who attended the budget statement at which the cash increase was announced, said: “We all know what a hammering our roads have taken with two bad winters and have seen the many potholes.

“The last Government always underfunded Hertfordshire for roads, and over the years the county has had to borrow more money to pay for repairs.

“I welcome the coalition government’s extra funding which is much-needed and will be a real boost.”

Since winter, potholes on Mill Road, Old North Road and Morton Street had been reported to The Crow, with drivers losing hubcaps and damage to suspensions both reported.

In Cambridgeshire, where 10,000 potholes have already been repaired in the first three months of 2011, claims bills from motorists who have damaged wheels, tyres and axles has run into hundreds of thousands of pounds in recent cold winters.

Cllr Mac McGuire, Cambridgeshire’s cabinet member for highways and access, said: “We very much welcome the fact that the Government has recognised the cost of repairing damage caused by the extreme winter weather and we will ensure the extra funding we will receive is spent well and wisely for the benefit of all road users across Cambridgeshire.”

South Cambridgeshire councillors Deb Roberts and Tim Stone had both complained of the state of the county’s roads, particularly Mill Road between Fowlmere and Melbourn.