A £3.5 million road resurfacing programme has been unveiled for South Gloucestershire after funding was more than doubled to prevent a ballooning backlog of work.

South Gloucestershire Council allocated the funding after putting an extra £2m into its budget earlier this year to help pay for the repairs. It said if it did not spend the cash now, the current maintenance backlog of £4m would inflate to £85m within 10 years.

Similar extra funding will also be necessary in future years to keep pace with the schedule.

Roads in all parts of the district will be resurfaced, from Kingswood and Cadbury Heath to Bradley Stoke, Thornbury, Severn Beach and Yate. Some footpaths will also be resurfaced or rebuilt.

Heather Goddard, who holds the communities portfolio on the council's ruling Cabinet, said the Conservative administration had inherited a "significant and worsening" maintenance backlog.

She said: "The evidence we have suggests an additional annual investment of £2m a year is needed to tackle the current backlog, raise the existing standards, deliver long-term value for money and avoid a backlog bombshell of £85m in 10 years.

"Thousands of residents across South Gloucestershire will see the benefits of this additional investment."

Matthew Riddle, councillor for the Severn ward, said: "Under-funding has left us with roads like Lower Tockington Road in Tockington, which many residents have observed looks more like a track than an actual road. I'm delighted to see that particular road has made it into this year's programme, along with so many others across the local area, particularly in towns such as Thornbury and Yate."