Threat to rural road maintenance

TOTAL ROAD CLOSURES may be necessary as the extreme winter weather has left councils struggling to maintain routes, according to a local government chief.

One council - Cornwall - said it was being "starved of resources" and was considering stopping maintenance of rural roads.

But the Department for Transport said billions of pounds were being provided for local highways maintenance and it was the responsibility of authorities to cope with severe weather.

Peter Box, the chairman of the Local Government Association's economy and transport board, said: "Councils fixed around two million potholes last year and share the frustration of motorists at the dilapidated state of our roads.

"Ensuring our roads are kept up to a safe standard for motorists is a priority and councils are working flat out to repair the damage caused by this winter's extreme flooding."

Bert Biscoe, cabinet member for transport at Cornwall Council, told the BBC: "The problem is that for 100 years we've been maintaining the roads to the very best standards we can.

"We've lived off the fat of that. But now we're squeezed in terms of council tax and we're being starved of resources."

He went on: "We're going to have to consider withdrawing maintenance from the rural road network. If we withdraw we will be pulling the legs out from under the Cornish economy."

AA president Edmund King said "Our AA patrols report that the floods have destroyed some road surfaces, with potholes being eroded into craters.

"The main pothole season isn't with us yet but some of the flooded road surfaces are an accident waiting to happen, particularly for those on two wheels. It is ironic that some car drivers who avoided flood damage are now suffering from road damage."

RAC technical director David Bizley said: "We should not be playing verbal ping-pong between local and central government over an issue as important as this as the money simply must be found for these essential repairs.

"Emergency funding should be made available, in circumstances like those that have arisen from the recent flooding, to repair damage caused by extreme events."

By Peter Woodman, Press Association