Thousands of kilometres of roads suffering from major defects

Thousands of kilometres of regional and local roads across the country are suffering from major defects, according to a new report by a local government watchdog.

The latest annual report by the National Oversight and Audit Commission on the performance of local authorities found 7% of the country’s regional road network showed signs of “some to severe structural distress” under an index used to rate the condition of road surfaces – up from 4% in 2017.