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Call for reform over road repair funding

FUNDING patterns mean most road maintenance is being carried out in "less-efficient, cold and wet" times, a report from a Government spending watchdog has said. The current pattern of funding, combined with the need to spend money within the financial year, means that most maintenance work goes on between September and March, said the report from the National Audit Office (NAO). It went on: "Although this is less disruptive for road users, it is less efficient than carrying out the work at other times of year because materials can be more difficult to handle in cold and wet conditions, and daylight hours are shorter." The report went on: "As a result of the additional funding for emergency repairs, which is made available at the end of the financial year, almost all highways authorities need extra capacity from the market at the same time, which makes it less likely that they will get value for money." The NAO report said there was a "lack of predictability" over road spending adding that historically, local highway authorities spent more revenue on maintenance, but were now carrying out fewer routine activities such as clearing gullies which are essential to preventing water seeping into roads' sub-structure.

Ford Focus ST & ST Estate arrive at Frankfurt

2012 Ford Focus ST arrives in Frankfurt The 2012 Ford Focus ST has debuted tonight at the Frankfurt Motor Show and came with a surprise addition – a Focus ST Estate, the first time Ford has offered a performance car with a load-lugging ability. Virtually unchanged from the endless images we’ve seen of the Concept ST both on the road and at Motor Shows, the 2012 ST gets a big trapezoidal grill, a big centre exhaust, skirts and out the back a spoiler and new bumper with integrated diffuser. And, as we’d expect, a Screaming Orange paint job.

Citroen Numero 9 Concept & 3 new Citroen DS models on the way

Citroen Numero 9 Concept Citroen has revealed the Numero 9 Concept ahead of the Beijing Motor Show – which we thought was the DS9 – and revealed 3 new DS models planned. The Citroen DS range is due to launch in China during 2012, and the impressive Citroen Numero 9 Concept – which we’d assumed was going to be the Citroen DS9 (and may still be) – has been conceived to mark the launch of DS at Beijing later this month. A big Citroen flagship has been on the cards for some time and the Numero 9 is an evolution of the Citroen Metropolis Concept, which we thought could become the DS6, and is probably destined to go in to production at some point as the DS9.