Additional cash is being made available to tackle a ‘pothole plague’ across the local roads network.

Funding will be made available to council chiefs in both Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire as part of a £10million cash pot set aside for roads maintenance by the Scottish Government.

The announcement comes after extreme weather conditions dubbed ‘the Beast from the East’ added to the mounting potholes repair backlog in these areas.

Details of the distribution of the cash among Scotland’s 32 local authorities will be agreed with council body Cosla.

Finance Secretary Derek Mackay, who is MSP for Renfrewshire North and West, said roads have suffered from “unprecedented levels of extreme weather in recent months.”

He added: “The severe weather led to local authorities incurring unexpected additional costs to their maintenance budgets.

“By assisting councils to keep our road networks safe and efficient, we’re not only improving conditions for road users, we’re also extending the lifespan of that network – benefitting the wider economy.”

Last month, it was revealed that East Renfrewshire Council (ERC) would need to spend £22million to bring its roads up to scratch.

A spokeswoman for ERC welcomed the additional cash from the Scottish Government.

She said: “Winter weather leads to an increase in potholes and we always work as efficiently as possible to prioritise road and pothole repairs within our available resources.

“Whilst we don’t yet know how much we will be receiving, we understand it will be shared equitably across all councils.”

The move comes after a Citizens’ Panel survey found that less than a third of residents rated East Renfrewshire’s roads as ‘good’ or ‘very good’.

ERC is ranked 25th of 32 Scottish local authorities for the state of its unclassified roads, despite having the best A-class highways.

In a report which went in front of cabinet members last week, ERC’s director of environment Andrew Cahill said the council was looking to ensure that roads are in a “reasonable condition.”

He pointed out there had been a decrease in the number of A and B-class roads that need to be treated, adding: “There was a very slight increase in the percentage of unclassified roads that should be considered for maintenance, however, it should be noted that this result is based on the previous four years’ surveys, with each year being a 10 per cent sample of the unclassified road length.

“The cost of roads maintenance increased in 2016/17 and significant variation exists between maintenance costs across all councils in terms of rurality, with significantly higher costs in urban areas.

“We are investing a further £1.6m in improving local roads and footpaths in 2017/18 in response to low levels of public satisfaction as rated by our Citizens’ Panel.

“The council will also be investing £11m in roads improvement projects over the next eight years.”