It’s a subject guaranteed to get the average driver irate – the state of Britain’s roads.
And if you thought that our roads were getting worse, then you would be correct.
New figures from the Department for Transport found that the condition of council roads failed to improve between 2008 and 2011.
The councils with the highest percentage of main roads requiring maintenance are Haringey (20 per cent), Camden (17 per cent), Oldham (14 per cent) and Reading (14 per cent).
The councils with the highest percentage of minor roads requiring maintenance are Newham (20 per cent), North Lincolnshire (18 per cent), and Haringey (18 per cent).
So it’s hard luck if you are London, especially Haringey.
Although Newham still has a lot of roads requiring maintenance, it has improved its roads significantly, from 25 per cent requiring maintenance in 2009/2010, to 20 per cent in 2010/2011. North Lincolnshire’s and Haringey’s minor roads deteriorated over the same period.
Of the 89 councils that provided data, 38 per cent reported that their minor roads deteriorated in 2010/11, 38 per cent of councils remained the same, and 24 per cent reported improvements.
In the same period, 40 per cent of councils reported deterioration in main road conditions, 38 per cent reported that their roads had remained the same and 21 per cent reported improved conditions.
From what I’ve seen, all roads around the country are getting worse.
Neil Greig, from the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said: “Under the previous government local authorities had targets to improve the condition of their roads. While the old system of road maintenance targets wasn’t perfect, the effect of the coalition scrapping these targets is evident in certain areas.
“Extra central government money following recent bad winters and the public outcry over the state of the roads has helped to stem the tide, but only when we have a commitment to long term funding can councils really start to address the huge backlog of repairs.”
Makes you wonder why bother paying road tax at all.