One in five Newham roads ‘require maintenance’

One fifth of Newham’s minor roads are in a poor condition - the highest proportion in the country, according to government figures.

Statistics disclosed in an Department for Transport report show 20 per cent of surfaces were in need of maintenance in 2011.

This was an improvement on the 25 per cent reported in poor condition the previous year, and was also down on the 33 per cent reported five years ago.

But it was still higher than any other English local authority which chose to disclose its data.

Ten per cent of Newham major trunk roads were in need of maintenance in the same year.

A Newham Council spokesman said they were currently working through a programme of improvement work for the whole borough.

He said: “Since 2009, we have invested more than �7.5m on renewing carriageways, pavements and street lights on minor roads.

“We want residents to be proud of their local neighbourhoods and we will continue to invest in improving the look and feel of both our high streets and local residential roads for the benefit of everyone who visits and lives in the borough.”

Neighbouring Redbridge and Waltham Forest reported six and seven per cent of their roads respectively required work to get them up to scratch.

The condition of the roads was assessed by the DfT using machine surveys. Visual inspections are also carried out to assess their surface condition.