Barrow back streets have 'pot holes within pot holes', says mayor

Provincial Street was named as one of the most potholed back streets

The state of back streets in a Cumbrian town has been branded as "embarrassing" by the local mayor.

Some of the streets in Barrow have "potholes, within potholes, within potholes", a meeting of the town's local committee was told.

It heard that while some were being fixed, others were deteriorating.

The county council said highways bosses were drawing up a list of the 100 worst streets and repairs would be prioritised at a meeting in the autumn.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service reported that Barrow mayor, Councillor Kevin Hamilton, said the condition of Warwick Street and Provincial Street was among the worst he knew.

He said: "We have potholes within potholes within potholes and some of the back streets that I have seen are embarrassing - absolutely embarrassing."

The Barrow area has among the largest number of back streets in Cumbria - estimated at 250 and covering 33km (18.6 miles).

Kieran Tetchner, the area highways manager for Barrow, said back streets were an "adopted highway" maintained at the expense of the county council and that it had a duty to keep them safe.

But the meeting on Friday was also told the council did not have an endless pot of money for potholes, craters or urgent resurfacing, and road budges were often quickly spent on key roads used by thousands of vehicles every day.