Somerset Council could miss out on around £3m for fixing potholes if it doesn't tell the government how many it has already repaired.

Transport secretary Heidi Alexander MP announced shortly before Christmas that local authorities across the south west would share £300M of extra cash to repair and improve damaged roads, on top of their annual baseline funding.

Of this additional funding, just over £12M will be provided to Somerset Council, with the funding being targeted to the roads "in most need of repair".

But the council must report to the DfT by late-June on how many repairs it has undertaken to date – or a quarter of this funding could be withdrawn.

The RAC estimates that it costs drivers an average of £600 to fix pothole damage to cars, with drivers encountering an average of six potholes every mile on their journeys.

According to surveys of 11,000 motorists carried out by the AA, 96 per cent of drivers see fixing potholes as a big priority for central and local government.

Prime minister Keir Starmer said: "The broken roads we inherited are not only risking lives but also cost working families, drivers and businesses hundreds – if not thousands of pounds – in avoidable vehicle repairs.

"Fixing the basic infrastructure this country relies on is central to delivering national renewal, improving living standards and securing Britain's future through our Plan for Change.

"British people are bored of seeing their politicians aimlessly pointing at potholes with no real plan to fix them. That ends with us.

"We've done our part and handed councils the cash and certainty they need – now it's up to them to get on with the job, put that money to use and prove they're delivering for their communities."

The additional funding will begin wending its way to local authorities across the West Country from mid-April, with 75 per cent being provided upfront for immediate repairs – around £9m in Somerset.

To receive the remaining 25 per cent, Somerset Council must publish a report on its official website by June 30, detailing how much they have spent to date, how many potholes have been filled in, percentage of their roads are in what condition, and how they are minimising street works disruption.

The council most also show how they are spending more on long-term preventative maintenance, such as surface dressing, and that they have "robust" plans in place for the UK's increasingly wet winters.

Ms Alexander (who represents the Swindon South constituency) said: "After years of neglect, we're unblocking the South West's roads – fixing the plague of potholes, building vital roads and ensuring every penny is delivering results for the taxpayer.

"The public deserves to know how their councils are improving their local roads, which is why they will have to show progress or risk losing 25 per cent of their funding boost.

"Our Plan for Change is reversing a decade of decline and mending our pothole-ridden roads which damage cars and make pedestrians and cyclists less safe."

Somerset Council has not specified any particular stretches of road which will benefit from the additional funding, but said it was committed to meeting the government's reporting deadline.

A spokesman said: "Somerset has an additional £12,078,000 this financial year as highways grant.

"Of this, 25 per cent is withheld by the government until local authorities provide a report by the end of June to release the remaining funding.

"This money will be used to maintain a range of highway assets including bridges, traffic signals and drainage assets alongside resurfacing roads and repairing potholes.

"We do not yet have a detailed breakdown of how this will be allocated to specific works."

Builders' merchant Travis Perkins has estimated that a single reactive pothole repair in England and Wales costs an average of £87.76 – with a planned repair costing on average £56.76.

If Somerset Council spent its entire allocation of £12m on fixing potholes, it would (on the basis of these estimates) have enough to repair between 137,625 and 212,790 potholes across the county.