Pothole pledge plea to Shropshire highways bosses
Highways chiefs at Shropshire Council have been urged to spend more money on patching up the county's pock-marked roads – or risk some "really serious accidents".
The warning came from Councillor Heather Kidd, who highlighted three examples in her wards of Chirbury and Worthen, but said there would be scores of others across the county.
But council bosses defended themselves, saying more than £25 million was spent on transport and infrastructure between April 2012 and March this year.
They said the authority's rate of successfully defending insurance claims was up there with the best authorities in the country.
Councillor Kidd said: "The problem is that it is no longer just a case of potholes and loose road surfaces.
"In my area we have several examples of some quite dangerous stretches of road which are not being repaired because of lack of funds.
"New repairs are being put on an ever lengthening list.
"This means that only the absolutely vital ones are being addressed and the others are sitting there getting worse. The officers are doing an excellent job but are starved of resources."
The Lib Dem said the three roads in her ward were in particularly urgent need of action, one near Worthen, another near Snailbeach at Crows Nest and the third at Priest Weston.
She said: "I am calling on the administration to spend much more on our roads before we have some really serious accidents on our hands."
Claire Wild, cabinet member for highways and transport at Shropshire Council, said ensuring the safety of road users was a priority for the authority. "We are working to meet the demands on the highways maintenance service within our available budget," she added.
"Our overall highways maintenance budget for 2012/13 is approximately £25 million.
"This includes roads, bridges, winter service, street-lighting and all routine operations such as street cleaning and gully emptying.
"We have a programme which allows us to relay or surface large road sections which have been identified as the greatest safety risks.
"If we were to be allocated additional funding we could spend it in a way that reduced our short term maintenance demands, however, the budget we have allows us to maintain our highways in a safe condition.
"Our rate for successfully defending insurance claims is one of the highest in the country."
She added the council were aware of the three roads highlighted by Councillor Kidd, and insisted work had either already been carried out or was due to be carried out at all of them.
