DEVON County Council has almost tripled its number of pothole repair teams in response to the storm damage to roads across the county.

Over the winter storm period, since December 23, the County Council has recorded more than 1,300 reports of fallen trees and branches on Devon's roads, more than 150 embankment slips, and more than 4,000 flooding incidents across the county.

Around 11,500 potholes have also been reported by the public or found by highway inspectors so far in 2014.

In response, the number of teams dealing with pothole safety defect repairs has increased from 13 to 34, with an extra 52 staff tackling the problem.

The approximate additional cost of the work is around £65,000 a week.

The clear-up of the storm damage is estimated to cost around £3 million to the end of the financial year, but the County Council is yet to finalise a figure for the damage caused by the storms as the road network and structures are still being assessed.

Councillor Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council Cabinet Member for Highway Management and Flood Prevention, said: “These storms have illustrated how fragile our road network is. Coastal areas have taken the biggest hit but we're seeing severe damage right across our network, and the cyclic nature of the storms has made the clear-up much more difficult than the storms in 2012/13.”