All of Scotland's local authorities will benefit from this cash injection

Lewis Macdonald Deputy Transport Minister

The announcement comes the week after one Scottish council promised �200,000 to tackle the problem of potholes.

Aberdeen City Council announced its improvements programme after a deluge of complaints from drivers.

The authority is to receive more than �1.5m from the Scottish Executive.

The other major winners are Highland, Edinburgh and Glasgow councils, which will receive �1.8m, �1.3m and �1.25m respectively.

Deputy Transport Minister Lewis Macdonald said: "I know that people across Scotland want to see action to tackle potholes, remove and replace worn out street lights and deal with other problems on the network of local roads and bridges.

Safety asessment

"All of Scotland's local authorities will benefit from this cash injection and they will be able to use the funds to tackle local roads maintenance priorities over the next seven months."

He added that the funding would also allow councils to work with Railtrack to carry out the safety assessment work recommended in the reports into the Selby rail crash.

This is expected to cost �1m in Scotland, where 770 road bridges will need to be examined to ensure they meet safety requirements.