According to our readers, some of the worst were in the Mid Craigie area.

Paul Cuthill wrote, “On Pitkerro Road, just as you turn off the Kingsway at the Cutty Sark public house, there are two or three bad ones very near the traffic islands opposite the shops,” he said. “There is basically no road surface to speak of, just very large holes.”

He continued, “The other is at the junction of Pitkerro Road and Pitairlie Road. The road just disappears as you turn into Pitairlie Road, and will be doing serious damage to all types of vehicles.

“These potholes could cause a nasty accident because a lot of people are taking evasive action to avoid them.”

Another reader flagged up stretches of road in desperate need of attention.

“In Mortimer Street, near to its junction with Byron Street, there is a drain in the middle of the road, and it’s in the centre of a big hole,” he said. “Also, driving along Dock Street towards the Ferry, in the nearside lane, none of the manhole covers are flush with the road,” he added.

Paula Cochrane, from Denhead of Gray, said holes near her home were “an accident waiting to happen.”

“I have never seen anything like it,” she explained. “The road between the Swallow Hotel towards Liff Primary School is littered with them. The council has been refilling it with gravel, but it’s not been properly resurfaced in the 10 years I’ve been living here. I’ve had two slow punctures and a damaged wheel on the stretch near Starks Farm.

Louise Phillips said she hit a pothole outside the police station in Longhaugh Road, resulting in a £500 bill for a new tyre. She phoned the council to report it, and has also put in a claim to them for the cost of her repairs

Last year, Dundee City Council blamed a gap in central government funding as the reason for the poor state of its roads.

Then, Planning and Transportation Convener Fiona Grant said the City Council was working with a £50m road maintenance fund backlog from central government — £18m of which was apportioned to carriageways.

This meant more council taxpayers’ money was being lost on short-term fixes.

However, a Scottish Executive spokesman told the Evening Telegraph, “Dundee City Council remain responsible for transport in their area, and will continue to receive substantial backing from the Scottish Executive. They, like all other councils in Scotland, are already receiving record levels of funding.

“In 2007-08 this will amount to £263.5 million, an increase of 4.1%. It’s up to the council to decide how to spend this funding. They are best placed to make decisions on local priorities, and they’re best placed to decide how much of this funding they want to dedicate to improving local roads.”

FIFE

THINGS ARE getting better in Fife, thanks to a new approach.

The old method saw a temporary repair using cold fill material carried out until the hole could be permanently repaired as part of programmed maintenance. However, this proved very unsatisfactory, and often several quick fixes had to be carried out, especially during the winter months.

But during 2005, Fife Council changed things so potholes are, where possible, repaired permanently on the first visit — and this has had a big impact, as senior transportation manager Derek Crowe explained.

“In 2003/4, we dealt with 28,655 repairs, and this rose to 29,311 in 2004/5. But the number fell to 26,854 last year, and one of the main reasons has been the change in the way we tackle repairs.

“We now use hot bituminous materials wherever possible, and only do a temporary job where traffic conditions mean the repair has to be done very quickly. A permanent repair is then done later. This has vastly reduced the number of return visits.”

The Fife plan is to permanently repair potholes deeper than 40mm, or projections greater than 40mm, normally within five working days, and the council’s currently achieving this in over 95% of cases.

Derek revealed that around three-quarters of potholes and other problems on the roads the council is responsible for (BEAR Scotland Ltd maintain the M90, A823M, A92, A977 and A985 trunk roads in the Kingdom) are detected by inspectors from the Transportation Services as part the programme of regular inspections.

Non-emergency problems with roads, pavements or signs in Fife can be reported by using an online form on the website www.fifedirect.org.uk

Faults relating to a large hole, manhole covers missing, traffic lights, spillages/debris/obstructions and icy or slippery roads are classed as emergencies and should be reported immediately to 01592 412020 (Central Fife), 01334 412020 (East Fife), or 01383 312020 (West Fife).

Problems with trunk roads should be reported to BEAR (0800 587 1107).

ANGUS

THE SCALE of the pothole problem facing Angus Council roads chiefs was illustrated in national survey findings released last year.

The Scottish Road Maintenance Condition Survey identified 33.62% of the area’s routes to be in the red or amber audit category, meaning they either require attention or should be scrutinised to determine if improve-ments are required.

The 2005/06 figure was, however, an improve-ment on the previous year, with a red/amber total of 37.42%.

In 2005/06, just 1.67% of Angus roads were resurfaced. and a further 2.04% received superficial surface dressing.

Those rates of repair fell well below the best case scenario for road repairs.

In an ideal world, A-class routes should be resurfaced every 40 years, equating to 2.5% of the network.

Surface dressing has a working life of ten years, and should ideally be carried out on one in ten roads every year.

The widening gap between the state of Angus roads and pavements and the cost of bringing them up to scratch has been a regular source of concern for councillors.

A council spokesperson said, “This financial year an extra £3.5m — plus £385,000 from the renewals and repairs fund — has been earmarked to accelerate the rate of improvement in roads maintenance and provide a safe, well-maintained and accessible network.”

PERTH

FIGURES SHOW that, during the period from August, 2005, to July, 2006, Perth & Kinross Council repaired a total of 4079 road defects.

Once a pothole is brought to the council’s attention, its repair is prioritised on a balance of risk in line with the national Code of Practice.

n A total of 64 Category 1 defects were brought to the council’s attention, and 100% of these were repaired within the specified timescale.

n A total of 208 Category 2 defects were repaired — 89% within timescale.

n A total of 3746 Category 3 defects were repaired — 93% within timescale.

n 61 Category 4 defects were reported, and 98% were repaired within timescale.

Overall, 93% of all defects were repaired on time.