Residents for Uttlesford (R4U) councillors have accused Essex County Council of a 'managed decline' of the county's roads as potholes increase.

R4U councillor Paul Gadd, Essex county councillor for Saffron Walden, said: "Any road user will tell you that potholes in Uttlesford are getting far worse and many are just dangerous.

"Our roads are the responsibility of Essex County Council, which is still controlled by the Conservatives – unfortunately, it is not led by residents like UDC – so we must continue to highlight the many problems and keep applying pressure.

"Last October, ECC reported their own policy as one of 'managed decline' of our roads because they were running out of money.

"Uttlesford residents pay ECC more than £40 million a year in council tax, so where has the money gone?

"We need to keep telling them that intentionally not maintaining our roads is completely unacceptable."

Along with his fellow county councillor Martin Foley - also of R4U - Cllr Gadd plans to continue pressing for repairs.

He added: "We are getting more and more reports of broken tyres and wheels, which ECC are refusing to accept responsibility for – however residents can make a claim against ECC and we urge them to do so.

"In Saffron Walden, Rowntree Way, Ross Close, Peaslands Road and South Road, to take just some examples, are in an appalling state.

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"We ask that residents continue to report potholes, and to notify us if dangerous potholes are not being repaired quickly."

A spokesperson for Essex Highways said: "Due to the added pressure on already limited resources, we must continue to prioritise our work and fix the higher-risk issues first.

"Unfortunately, we cannot undertake all works at once. Instead, we will begin with the repairs that require immediate attention because of safety or other wider concerns and then move to more minor repairs to road surfaces or footways.

"For more information on our repair criteria and road maintenance strategy, please visit: https://www.essexhighways.org/roads-and-pavements/how-we-prioritise-highway-issues.

"All compensation claims are investigated fully, and damages paid if the council has been liable.

"The majority of claims are successfully defended because we are very rigorous in our maintenance of the network in order to protect taxpayers' money."