By Nora Parminter

POTHOLES are an increasing problem on the roads and lanes in and around Crediton and members of the public are encouraged to report them.

Potholes, flooding and blocked drains, as well as other road and transport problems can be reported and tracked on the Devon County Council (DCC) website: www.new.devon.gov.uk/roadsandtransport/reportaproblem .

A pothole that appeared in Belle Parade, Crediton, while the road was being used by a heavier volume of traffic than usual because of the recent High Street road closure, was reported to DCC on February 8. Since then the initial pothole, which is now deeper and larger, has now been joined by a second pothole equally as bad and could be a safety hazard to those on two wheels. The potholes had still not been repaired at the time of going to press.

Devon County Council say they commission repairs to make roads passable with due care and provide reasonable access, but don’t currently have the funds for more extensive works to the highway network.

They will only carry out a repair on a pothole which is more than 40mm deep and

greater than 300mm in any horizontal direction.

If the pothole meets these criteria it is classed as a safety defect and DCC say they will do a temporary or permanent repair. The type of repair depends on the category of the road.

County Councillor Nick Way (Crediton Rural) recently complained about the state of the roads in the Fordton area of Crediton and this has now been repaired.

He told the “Courier:” “One can understand the use of shrinking resources. They are focusing on major routes and seem to be dealing with safety issues only on minor roads.

“The funding that local councils receive gets less year-by-year.

“Although some roads may not be classed as priority roads people do still rely on them.

“People should report potholes as soon as possible and the more people that complain the more chance there is of getting something done.”

Cllr Way is supporting an amendment at DCC for increasing the amount of money used for maintenance on local roads.

Many local roads have now deteriorated to such a state of disrepair that it will take a lot of resources to get them back to previous levels.