Over 1000 Fifers sign pothole petition

More than 1000 people have signed the petition.

Cllr Linda Holt launched the petition "out of desperation" on Sunday night and it has already topped 1000 signatures.

She said she did not believe those responsible at Fife Council understood the level of concern and anger about Fife's roads, which, "according to everyone I speak to, except the transport convener, have never been in a worse state”.

She said: "Facebook is full of people complaining about dangerous potholes and reporting damage to their vehicles as a result - there is even a dedicated Facebook page".

Councillor Altany Craik, convener of the Economy Tourism Strategic Planning & Transportation Sub-Committee, had said that roadworkers were being diverted to working on potholes, in a bid to help tackle the backlog.

He said the situation had been made worse by recent bad weather.

He added: “In response, we’re taking full advantage of the mild weather to divert most of our roadworkers from their other work onto pothole repairs. These extra teams are working seven days a week at the moment to clear the backlog of pothole repairs as quickly as possible.”

However, Cllr Holt responded: "Seven-day working is no big deal when drivers are on the road seven days a week and when a lot of these potholes are now classed as emergency.

"The administration at Fife Council is using smoke and mirrors to pretend they are tackling the problem of our crumbling roads. The truth is we have annually increasing traffic and more severe weather events and there is no plan to address historic neglect or introduce adequate funding levels. This means it is inevitable that our roads will just deteriorate further and drivers will be left to foot ever larger bills for damage to their vehicles."

It was also revealed recently that just four motorists won compensation from Fife Council after their cars were damaged by potholes last year - despite 367 claims being made.

The petition was seeking 200 signatures – but that target has already been smashed.

If you would like to sign the petition, click HERE.