‘It is like driving in a third world country’: MP blasts south Shropshire’s roads as county’s pothole-riddled roads debated in parliament
An MP has said being on Shropshire’s roads was like "driving in a third world country" as he raised the state of rural roads in the county in Westminster.
South Shropshire MP Stuart Anderson secured a Westminster Hall debate on Tuesday to raise the issue of the state of rural roads across the county and beyond.
Speaking to fellow MPs, the MP compared the roads in his constituency to those of the “third world”.
“It is like driving in a third world country,” he said, adding constituents had also compared it to "driving on the moon".
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“From Bridgnorth to Bishop’s Castle, and from Broseley to Ludlow, the whole of South Shropshire is suffering from the poor state of the roads. The roads around Ditton Priors, in particular, are impassable in multiple areas," he said.
He added: “The roads are actually damaging tractor tyres in that area. It is a major issue.”
He also criticised the Lib Dem-run Shropshire Council, saying: “We are finding that Shropshire council is putting cones in the potholes, because they are that big, or putting up traffic lights, and some of the traffic lights are not working.
“Those have now been up for weeks, and sometimes several months. That is causing an issue, when it is easier to fix the potholes.
“There have been a lot of short-term fixes, and we need a longer-term strategy. I set up a survey in my constituency, and 500 people responded in a very short period of time.
“One in four have experienced vehicle damage, nearly 90% have had a near miss, and 98 per cent said that the roads are in poor or very poor condition. I would love to meet that 2 per cent and see where they are travelling.”
Helen Morgan, the Lib Dem MP for North Shropshire was also at the debate and defended the local council, saying: “The council has created three new repair teams and dealt with 25,000 potholes since May, but during a wet and cold winter, it seemed like whack-a-mole, with new potholes appearing just as others are fixed.
“In January, 2,113 new potholes were reported, compared with just 1,200 the year before.”
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, Lilian Greenwood, thanked Mr Anderson for raising the debate but she said the problems in his constituency were historical, and said the government had increased funding for road repairs
She said; “In 2024-25, Shropshire received £23.2 million. For 2025-26, the figure is £33.7 million—more money to fix more roads and to undertake preventive maintenance.
“The honourable member suggested that Shropshire council does not have certainty of future funding. It does. For the first time, councils have multi-year funding for local roads maintenance. We have given them four years of funding, specifically to allow them to plan ahead.
“The honourable member also suggested that Shropshire will not receive its incentive funding. There is no reason to believe that is the case. Last year, only one local highway authority out of 154 did not receive its incentive payments. If an authority does what we have asked of it, there is no danger of it not receiving that incentive payment.”
She added: “Rural residents are all too familiar with the reality, which is why this Government have taken decisive action.
“We are providing record funding for local highways maintenance, supporting councils not only to repair damage caused by recent winters but to break the cycle of deterioration that has built up over more than a decade.”
