'Third World' state of roads under fire

A councillor says some Staffordshire roads would be more appropriate in the Third World because of their poor state of repair.

Gnosall and Doxey member Councillor Mark Winnington said that he got an increasing number of complaints.

"I have roads in Church Eaton, Oulton and Ranton which are becoming unusable unless by four-wheel drive vehicles," the Tory councillor told the county council yesterday. He said 12 per cent of county roads were in a poor state of maintenance and some were in "a dismal state."

Council leader Councillor John Taylor said: "Everyone would like more money spend in an area they would like to see improved.

"The reality is there is not enough money across the county to raise highways up to the standards some people want them to be.

"In Staffordshire 80 per cent of the roads are rural and 20 per cent urban, but 75 per cent of the population is in urban areas and most of the traffic is in urban areas."

Councillor Taylor said that the conditions of all county roads were inspected annually to a national code of practice.

He said Staffordshire was fifth out of 15 authorities in the Midlands region for its record on maintenance of unclassified roads.

"We operate a continual process of defect identification and repair, but at this time of year the roads do appear to be in worse condition because of seasonal influences.

"To compound this usual situation, we are experiencing a considerably worse than average winter which is having an effect on the condition of the roads," added Councillor Taylor.

* The Tory group is proposing spending £30 million over three years through the council's capital programme to improve the county's rural and class C and D urban roads if it wins power from Labour in June's county elections.