A £400,000 windfall has been secured to improve Pendle's roads - thanks to the warm winter.

Lancashire County Council did not spend its Pendle winter roads gritting budget and now with the cash left over the authority can carry out some unplanned repairs.

But Coun David Whipp, Craven ward member for Pendle Council and chairman of the county's Liberal Democrat group, said: "Essential road repairs should be properly funded, not left to the whim of the weather.

"Lancashire's backlog of repairs to rotten roads and poor pavements needs tackling with sustained investment in regular planned surfacing work, not the pot-holing approach which leaves us with a patchwork quilt of repairs.

"Over £400,000 worth of unplanned road repair work will be carried out by the end of the financial year.

"This is very welcome extra maintenance for our hard-pressed road network.

"The last minute money became available because warm weather over winter cut the cost of gritting."

Lancashire has already spent £129,000 from the windfall resurfacing Lee Street and Nora Street Barrowford, as well as Barnoldswick Road, Higherford and Halifax Road, all Brierfield.

Another £42,000 is being spent carrying out repairs in Skipton Road, Barnoldswick.

County hall is also spending £120,000 on repairing stretches of the A56 in Earby and Colne.