Fixing Scotland's 150,000 potholes will cost taxpayers £3billion

The cost of fixing Scotland’s pothole-blighted roads has reached £3billion, according to a Holyrood committee.

More than a third of local streets and 13 per cent of major roads need work done, the rural economy and connectivity committee found.

In a letter to Transport Secretary Michael Matheson, convener Edward Mountain wrote: “The committee is concerned that there is an estimated £1.2billion backlog for maintenance of trunk roads and around £1.8billion needs to be spent to bring the local roads network up to a satisfactory standard.”

Mountain cited Audit Scotland reports that show there has been a 26 per cent decline in spending on local roads over five years.

He said the committee “is agreed that a new approach is needed to make significant inroads into addressing the accepted maintenance backlogs”.

There has been a 26 per cent decline in spending on roads over the last five years (Tom Dick/Wishaw Press)

Tory MSP Jamie Greene said: “After 12 years of Nationalist neglect, Scotland has £3billion of repair backlogs and 150,000 potholes.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We are making significant efforts to maximise every penny that is spent on maintenance. The budget for maintaining roads Transport Scotland looks after has increased by £33million in 2019-20.”