Devon County Council faces £750m roads repair backlog

The estimated cost of getting roads in the Devon County Council area back into a decent condition is about £750m, a report to councillors says.

The council said part of the situation was down to "years of under-investment".

It added that, as well as under-investment, conditions had also been made worse by recent bad weather.

The Department for Transport said it had given the council £136m for local road maintenance for 2011 to 2015.

The report, due to be discussed this week by councillors, also suggests that there is a "high risk" of the county "not being able to maintain C class and unclassified roads effectively".

Giving an example of what it said was under-investment, the council said: "Devon would need to spend about £64m a year to maintain the network. The government is giving us £35m in the next financial year."

As well as the £136m for the period between 2011-15, the Department of Transport said Devon received an additional £4.7m in March 2011 following the severe winter weather in 2010/11 and an additional £9.3m in 2013/14 and 2014/15 to fund further highways maintenance.

Devon County Council said that in April 2013 it was facing a bill of £687m for road repairs for its 8,000-mile (13,000km) network.

The £750m total does not include the Torbay and Plymouth unitary council areas.

Plymouth City Council said was looking at a £70m to £80m backlog in repairs.