'Some of the worst in Shropshire': Town councillor pleads for help to fix 'dreadful' roads

But now a councillor in the south of the county has claimed that a part of his patch could qualify for the rather dubious title of having the worst roads in Shropshire, as he pleads with the county council to take action.

Councillor Nigel Hartin, who represents the Clun division at Shirehall, says Shropshire Council is yet to fully address the "dreadful" state of the the roads in the area despite attempts by himself and the town council to speed up the repairs.

He said: “Clun is a pretty major settlement for our part of Shropshire at the junction of the road network for this part of the county yet the council has been slow to have work done on some pretty dreadful stretches of roads and pavements.”

He says key sections of the network need attention, including a large stretch of the High Street - especially around the junction with Bridge Street, Bridge Street, Kington Road, the pavements on the Knighton Road.

In addition, he says, some of the gullies in town are blocked and there is a large accumulation of rubbish under a bridge.

Nigel concluded: “I have asked the head of highways to organise some further temporary pothole repairs in the town in the short-term.

"We have been promised that a full carriageway resurfacing is in the budget, timed to take place after the extensive drainage works due to take place in the town later in the year.

“Both the town council and myself will be pressing Shropshire to make good on these promises. We have now some of the worst roads in Shropshire and have suffered enough.”

Councillor Richard Marshall, the county council cabinet member for highways, said the roads are always impacted at this time of year, due to the poor weather conditions.

But he added: "A significant amount of work has been done to improve the condition of the county’s roads over the past 12 months.

"We have seen much greater levels of investment, which has seen more kilometres of road resurfaced and repaired than in previous years.

"The roads are always impacted at this time of year, due to the poor weather conditions leading to more defects to repair than at other times of the year."

And he had some good news for Clun, confirming: "We do have plans to resurface this location and, in the meantime, we continue to carry out temporary repairs to ensure the road remains safe and serviceable until the resurfacing works takes place.”

The council really has its work cut out at this time of year, as reports on the Fix My Street app show.

Only in the last day there have been many reports of defects in the roads.

One in Bishop's Castle alerts the council to a "deep rectangular pothole in carriageway causing problems for small vehicles" in High Street.

The resident said: "This pothole may have been reported recently but it is getting worse and today as I drove over it - it is positioned so as to be difficult to avoid doing so - there was a nasty clunk as my wheels went into it.

"The pothole is getting deeper each week and urgently requires filling. It is in the High Street at almost the steepest part, below the town hall, and the road has parked cars on one side so you cannot swerve to avoid it."

Other members of the public have also reported "numerous large and extensive carriageway defects/potholes on the Sutton Maddock roundabout by the Shell garage.

"The condition of the road surface on the Sutton Maddock roundabout by the Shell garage has been allowed to worsen considerably, despite several road users reporting the defects over the last few months. When will repair work be scheduled?"

There have also been reports of a "huge crater" in Gobowen and a 20-inch pothole in Bevan Way, Market Drayton, getting bigger every day.

Do you know any contenders for the title of 'the worst road in Shropshire'?. Email reporters@shropshirestar.co.uk with a picture of the offending defect, a brief description of where it is and the problems it is causing.