Leicestershire's roads and public transport are set to get a 'game-changing' £400million boost after the government announced it would divvy up cash from the scrapped northern leg of High Speed 2 (HS2) and give it to local councils.

Leicestershire County Council will receive more than £238m as part of the Local Transport Fund for councils in the Midlands and the North, announced this morning (Monday) by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Transport Minister Mark Harper.

The money – which includes a total of £1billion for 'smaller cities, towns and rural areas across the East Midlands – could go towards building new roads and improving junctions, highway maintenance, tackling congestion, adding charging points for electric cars, refurbishing bus and train stations, and road safety. The funding will be available from 2025 up until 2032, with the government claiming it represents nine times the regular transport funding for local councils.

City and county councils say both authorities needed to wait for further guidance promised by the Government before they could begin to make decisions on how to spend the money.

But there are plenty of transport issues in the county which could be targeted for improvement.

Last year, it was revealed potholes have cost the city council £32,000 in payments to drivers with damaged cars, while residents of rural areas are frequently seeing their bus services cancelled or reduced.

The £4.7bn announced for the Local Transport Fund was originally destined for the now-scrapped leg of the controversial high speed rail scheme.

When Mr Sunak announced the cancellation at the Conservative party conference in October, Labour mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham accused the government of "disrespecting people across the whole of the North", while Conservative West Midlands mayor Andy Street said it amounted to "cancelling the future".

Councillor Ozzy O'Shea, the county council's cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "Roads and transport enable our residents to go about their everyday lives, connecting people with work, shops and health facilities so any extra funding is very welcome."

But he added: "What we really need to help us put in a place a long-term, joined up approach is Government confirmation of the yearly funding, and the money available for road maintenance and buses.

"This is what enables us to put a sustainable plan in place and do the most to help our residents. We now need to work through the detail to see how we can make the most of the money."

Announcing the scheme, Mr Sunak said: "We have a clear plan to level up our country with greater transport links that people need and deliver the right long term change for a brighter future.

"Through reallocating HS2 funding, we're not only investing billions of pounds directly back into our smaller cities, towns and rural areas across the North and Midlands, but we are also empowering their local leaders to invest in the transport projects that matter most to their communities."

Transport Secretary Mark Harper added: "Today's £4.7bn investment is truly game-changing for the smaller cities, towns, and rural communities across the North and the Midlands and is only possible because this government has a plan to improve local transport and is willing to take tough decisions like reallocating funding from the second phase of HS2.

"This funding boost will make a real difference to millions of people, empowering local authorities to drive economic growth, transform communities, and improve the daily transport connections that people rely on for years to come."