WHITEHALL is to spend millions of pounds boosting transport across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

In a £195m package of proposals announced by the Department of Transport for the south east, local authorities in the Daily Echo area will get a large slice of the cake.

The local transport settlement for 2003-4 means that Hampshire tops the list of 19 local authorities with £30m.

Southampton City Council gets £4.1m while the Isle of Wight will have £5.5m to spend.

Jubilant council transport chiefs have already started to draw up a shopping list of road improvement schemes that the Whitehall windfall could be spent on.

Hampshire County Council has welcomed the news of a successful bid for £30m government funding for transport initiatives.

It will be spent on schemes designed to ease congestion, give people a better choice of how they travel and improve the environment and quality of life for residents.

The county's executive member for environment, Councillor Keith Estlin, said: "This is excellent news for both the county council and the people of Hampshire.

"We are delighted that our hard work has been rewarded with a settlement that is significantly higher than last year's £24m. In fact ours is the highest settlement of all 19 local authorities in the south east.

"This is perhaps not surprising given the government has confirmed for the second year running that our local transport plan is well above average."

But the council chief added: "While this is great news in terms of capital funding the county council is facing a £45m shortfall in government grant next year."

Southampton City Council's cabinet spokesman for environment and transport, Councillor Richard Williams, said that £4.1m was not to be sneezed at.

He said: "I am very pleased. It will give us more flexibility in escalating road improvements.

"We would like to get on and spend this money in the summer and spring months. It is not every day that you get a few extra million to spend from the government."

He said that officers would now be able to draw up a list of schemes and identify priorities.

Improvements can now go ahead to the Ryde Esplanade Transport Interchange on the Isle of Wight.

Transport Secretary Alistair Darling said: "This announcement shows the government is keeping its promise in the ten-year plan of sustained investment to deliver a reliable, efficient and safe transport system that meets the needs of local communities.

"The investment will enable local authorities to meet local problems with local solutions and give them the certainty they need to implement sustained and long-term improvements."

An AA spokesperson said: "Obviously it is certainly a boost for transport and we hope we can see some decent schemes as a result of this money."

But he pointed out that it was not a lot considering that in Hampshire alone motorists paid £2 billion a year in taxation.

THIS IS HOW THE MONEY WILL BE SPENT IN HAMPSHIRE:

There will be £14.4m for integrated transport - such as the refurbishment of Hythe Pier and the Miracles project in Winchester.

This project, part of a European Union initiative, will bring ten key initiatives to the city centre, including identifying heavy-polluting vehicles and dealing with them and equipping park-and-ride buses with clean engine technology.

There will be £13.1m for highway maintenance on roads and bridges and funding towards South Hampshire Rapid Transit phase one - the light rail system linking Fareham, Gosport and Portsmouth.

The cash injection from Whitehall means that more than 300 transport projects can be progressed across Hampshire, including a new railway station for Chandler's Ford and continuing support for developing safer routes to schools and other safety schemes.

There will be major highway reconstruction schemes for the A334 from Botley to Wickham and for the A325 between Sleaford and Alice Holt Forest.