HIGHWAYS bosses at Herefordshire Council have received mixed news from central government over its spending plans for the next five years.

Whitehall has granted the council more than £53 million for the period 2006/07 - 2010/11 to implement new transport initiatives and maintain existing highways.

This includes a £127,000 bonus for 2006/07 because it scored so highly on all of the six key performance indicators for the work carried out last year - meaning that the council delivers good transport services.

In all areas inspected by the Government, the council received either a 'very promising' or 'promising' grade and scored an overall 83%.

But the £53 million is £3 million less than the council has received over the past five years.