ROADS in Banbury are ‘rapidly declining’ and millions of pounds are needed to fix them, it has been claimed.

Mark Cherry, a Labour county councillor, said ‘enough is enough’ when it comes to repairing roads in his Ruscote ward.

He said: “So much of my time as a councillor is spent reporting pot holes and waiting for them to be repaired, when the reality is that everyone’s hands are tied – mine, Oxfordshire County Council technical teams and the county council itself – because of the Government budget cuts”.

The councillor added that the cuts meant it was unlikely all of the necessary roads could be repaired.

He said: “One estimate I’ve seen says that fixing potholes in Oxfordshire could cost £165 million and a further £20 million a year to maintain, but the highways budget is only £20 million a year to start with, which means we are barely managing, in fact we’re actually managing a rapid decline in the quality of our roads.”

At a meeting of the full county council on September 12 Mr Cherry will urge the authority to demand extra funding from central government and said he is hoping for 'cross-party support'.

Repairs and resurfacing have been requested for Caernarvon Way, Woodgreen Avenue, Orchard Way, Drayton Road, Trinity Close and Cromwell Street.

Much of this work is expected to be completed later this year.

Oxfordshire County Council did not respond to a request for comment.