Council struggling to keep up with pothole demand

The county council's transport chief said budget cuts meant the authority was facing a challenge to maintain crumbling roads.

A £5 million investment in the county's roads was announced earlier this year but will only go 'some way' to solving the pothole problem.

Helen Fisher, cabinet member for highways and transport, said budget cuts meant bosses have had to make difficult decisions on where money is spent.

Freezing conditions during winter also took its toll on the roads, she said.

Councillor Fisher said: “Good roads are important for the council, for communities and for businesses, not just for getting from A to B safely, but for supporting economic growth and better access to jobs, education and learning.

"However, maintaining and investing in our huge 6,000km road network, at a time of enormous pressure on council budgets, remains an issue. The particularly cold winter and bouts of snow also have an impact, both in terms of increasing the cost of gritting our major roads to keep people on the move, but also the growing repair bill for carriageways damaged by the freezing conditions.

"We are spending more every year on social care, and caring for Staffordshire people young and old, when the income we receive from Government is reducing, so we have to strike a careful balance on where we spend taxpayers money.

"The county council has already announced an extra £5m this year to go some way to tackling the historic backlog of low-risk potholes.”

Drivers have been left infuriated by the amount of potholes on Staffordshire's roads. It was revealed in April that 11,000 would be filled in as part of a major investment in roads.