West roads rated 'amber' for work to tackle potholes

DRIVERS across England are able to see how well their local authority is tackling potholes with the launch of a new traffic light rating system.

- NEIL LANCEFIELD

The Department for Transport (DfT) said a new mapping tool shows 154 local highway authorities rated as red, amber or green based on road conditions and how effectively they are spending the Government's road maintenance funding.

The vast majority of authorities are rated amber, including Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset.

Among those classified as red are Cumberland, Cumbria; Bolton, Greater Manchester; Leicestershire; Suffolk; and Kensington and Chelsea, west London.

The DfT said red authorities will receive "dedicated support to bring them into line with best practices" through a £300,000 programme.

Green authorities include Essex; Wiltshire; Coventry, West Midlands; Leeds, West Yorkshire; and Darlington, County Durham. They demonstrated they are following "best practice" such as investing in long-term preventative measures rather than just patching up potholes, while also maintaining good road conditions, according to the DfT.