THE borough has been handed £1.7m to spend on the maintenance of its highways.

It is part of a Department for Transport £420m nationwide investment to improve roads in England.

The money given to Wigan Council by the Government is the most out of all of Greater Manchester's 10 boroughs.

Bolton West and Atherton MP Chris Green said: “One of the biggest concerns that constituents raise with me is the poor condition of many of our local roads.

"I’m especially pleased to see that Wigan has received a significant boost in its funds for road repairs in the budget and I will fight to ensure that Atherton gets its fair share of the funding.”

The £420m cash injection is in addition to £950m already allocated to council's for highways maintenance.