THE Scottish Government has ruled out more funding for pothole repairs after residents in one north-east street claimed theirs was the worst road in the country.
A Holyrood spokesman said Finance Minister John Swinney had already found an extra £5million for councils to spend on roads repairs and councils would have to dig into their own budgets to fix the damage caused by the worst winter in decades.
Residents in Bressay Brae, Aberdeen, said their street had been left looking like the Grand Canyon with 119 potholes on a 100-yard stretch.
The city council was carrying out repairs yesterday.
Politicians said Bressay Brae was by no means an isolated case. Aberdeen MSP Brian Adam has received complaints about roads across the city.
“Some of the holes are not just dangerous to cars but could potentially cause accidents as people swerve to avoid them or are deflected after hitting one,” he said.
North-east MSP Richard Baker said roads throughout the region posed safety concerns for cyclists and motorists. “There could be a serious injury,” he added.
Like most local authorities, Aberdeenshire Council has recorded a sharp increase in reports of potholes caused by the harsh weather.
Infrastructure services committee chairman Peter Argyle said workers were battling to fix defects before they caused serious problems.
“Potholes are most common during the periods following severe frost-and-thaw cycles,” he said.
“Repairs are being carried out throughout the region and we would like to thank the public for their assistance on this matter.”
The average pothole costs £65 to mend and, before this winter, campaigners said drivers in Scotland could encounter one every 120 yards.
The AA has predicted there will be three times as many holes on the roads of Britain by the time spring arrives.
A spokesman said yesterday that the motoring organisation’s insurance division was receiving three times as many claims for damaged wheels from drivers as usual.
Paul Watters, head of roads policy at the AA, said the figures were probably the tip of the iceberg, since most people do not bother claiming.
“Councils are already putting extra money into road repairs, but I would imagine they are going to have to go to the governments north and south of the border and ask for more,” he said.
A Scottish Government spokesman said it had already announced an additional £5million to be shared between the 32 local authorities to fix roads.
“On potholes we have made available an extra £5million for councils that comes on top of the almost £12billion in funding for local authorities next year.
“The settlement also matches our commitment to ensure local government continues to receive an increasing share of the Scottish budget to enable councils to meet priorities such as maintaining roads.”
If the extra £5million was divided equally between the 32 local authorities each council would receive £156,250 – enough to repair 2,400 potholes at £65 per hole.