Flooding causes £20m damage to roads

The cost of fixing the damage to roads in Derbyshire caused by recent flooding is estimated to be more than £20m, according to the county council.

Large parts of the county were flooded in November, which at the time caused more than 100 road closures, with 116 businesses and around 300 homes affected. Around 125 miles of roads across the county were damaged.

The damage to roads includes several sites where the road surface was completely swept away, leaving utility pipes visible, multiple potholes, large patches of damage to the road surface and thousands of blocked drains and gulleys.

And 24 damaged bridges, retaining walls and culverts need to be fixed.

Loose rock on a cliff next to a major road at Stoney Middleton had to be removed so the road could re-open.

Two roads are still closed because of landslips. One, at Abney in the Derbyshire Dales, has caused almost all of the road to disappear, leaving local people with a 26 mile detour. This road alone could cost £1m to re-build.

The council say the damage caused is estimated to cost more than its annual budget for road maintenance - which in the current financial year is £17.5m.

Cllr Simon Spencer, DCC's Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Infrastructure, said: “The floods have really left their mark on the county with huge amounts of damage caused.

“We’ve been asked by the Government for an estimate of the cost of the damage and will be sending our report to them this week.

“The Prime Minister has taken a personal interest in Derbyshire and has offered us the support we need to put right the damage caused. I’m hopeful that we will be given the funding we need to sort out the issues caused by the floods.”