A WHOPPING £87m would be needed to deal with a backlog of repairs on Herefordshire roads, which means there is yet no end in site for the pothole hell that is Ledbury's Homend.

This is because the cash-strapped county council is prioritising repairs for major roads, although change might soon be in sight.

A new system could be adopted, based on how long any damaged road has been without attention .

Ledbury's mayor and county councillor, Phillip Howells, recently attended a Balfour Beatty Living Spaces work update, to hear what Herefordshire Council's contractor was doing about the poor state of local roads.

He said a "sobering picture" had been painted, because of the "huge work backlogs on roads, of around £87m".

Cllr Howells said: "Effectively they are managing a deteriorating asset!"

He specifically mentioned the Homend at the the meeting, but told The Reporter: "We don't know when they will be looking at The Homend. There is a queue.

"Basically, all the market towns are saying the same thing, which is, how the hell do you get to the top of the queue?"

It is the upper Homend which is a big problem, from the turn for Orchard Lane to Ledbury train station, and it has been a problem for years.

Cllr Howells the duration a stretch of road had needed repairs might be considered in future, when resources are allocated.

He said: "There is movement. We have to find some way to repair roads like this, and some time scale."

For Ledbury resident, Edd Hogan, "the roads in and around Ledbury are in a worse state of repair than some can ever remember".

He added: "This follows on from additional funding being released to Herefordshire Council by central government: an additional £5.1m for Herefordshire announced in November 2018, and £4.75m from the Local Highways Maintenance Challenge Fund for 2019/20.

"Both of these windfalls are in addition to the money that the council allocates each year to ongoing road renewal and repairs. Yet for all this funding the roads around Ledbury seem worse than ever: the council’s own website shows a string of reported road defects along The Homend from the railway station to the petrol station, and again on New Street from the Elmsdale Road junction to the Co-op supermarket.

"The junction area of The Homend and Knapp Lane is akin to a lunar surface."

He added: "The issue in all of this is that nobody is held to account. Whilst the winter has been wet and caused an increase in potholes, the repairs are of poor quality. This is evidenced by the numerous potholes on New Street being filled and then collapsing time after time – the centre of the road is littered with poor quality collapsed repairs.

"Herefordshire Council must get a grip of the way in which funding is spent in their name, and how council contractors (BBLP) are held to account. In addition, there needs to be a renewed investment in white lining, and road stud repairs. Only then will our local roads network come anywhere near being satisfactory."

Herefordshire Council was contacted for a comment, but none was forthcoming at the time of going to press.