The general election candidates for Morecambe & Lunesdale have spoken out about the issue of potholes and the shocking state of roads in the area.
Residents have hit out at the "absolutely disgusting" state of roads around the Lancaster and Morecambe district saying they are in "the worst condition for years".
Beyond Radio has been inundated with comments about the "appalling" quality of many roads around the area due to potholes and other issues.
We asked the Morecambe & Lunesdale candidates what they would do about the state of the roads if they are elected on July 4.
Lancashire County Council is responsible for highways in the county and the government provides funding to the council for improving the roads.
The Morecambe & Lunesdale candidates are pictured below during their debate on Beyond Radio.
LISTEN: Morecambe & Lunesdale 'Beyond the Ballot' debate - Beyond Radio
Lizzi Collinge of the Labour Party, who is also on the Conservative-led county council, said: "I feel like I spend my life reporting potholes and banging my head against a brick wall called Lancashire County Council to try and get the roads sorted.
"We're going to fill in a million more potholes in the first year. Local councils are being given one-year funding settlements, pots of money they have to fight over. We will hand real power back to local authorities. That means multi-year funding settlements. Councils will know what their budgets are and they will be able to choose what to spend it on.
"I'm not saying we're going to be giving loads more money to councils but we're going to make sure they will be able to use it properly. Proper core funding and proper stability of budgets."
Gina Dowding of the Green Party, also a county councillor, said: "Councils have had their funding hollowed out. Yes, we need local councils to have more control. But there is an absolute need for investment in our public services.
"It's so disappointing that everyone is saying we'll to stick to austerity and we're not going to raise any more money unless the economy grows. We need to raise the funding to reinvest. Potholes are the most visible symptom of the lack of investment.
"I think it's shocking that the Conservatives have ignored local government, dismissed us and dissed us all the time, and that Labour are saying we're not going to give back loads of money. We need that money back to improve people's quality of life, potholes and all."
Peter Jackson of the Liberal Democrats said: "Potholes are symbolic of the state of our country. They appear, and what do we do? We patch them up.
"We don't really repair them. We don't resurface the roads, which is what really needs to be done. And we don't properly fix the other public services we have. We constantly patch them up, because our government is constantly crying poverty.
"What we can afford or not afford as a government and as a country, is a choice. Funding upper tier local authorities is the only way to solve the problem."
Potholes on South Road in Morecambe, pictured in January 2024.
David Morris, Conservative candidate and MP for Morecambe & Lunesdale since 2010, said: "I think the big problem is, we need road resurfacing, we need to be investing in machinery that actually resurfaces the roads.
"They fill in a pothole, especially in the Morecambe area, the weather changes, it brings it all back up again. Where I live is like a rally track. That will take a lot of money.
"What the government are doing, is because HS2 (isn't going) further north to Manchester and beyond, they're bringing that money into a long-term plan to look at this. We have to be more geared up with resurfacing rather than filling potholes.
"The reality is, the roads are shocking. The further north you go in the constituency, the better the roads are. I think that's the quality of the materials they're using. It's a bigger problem than just putting money into a local authority, it's what you do with that resource to make sure the roads are better."
Barry Parsons, from Reform UK, said: "Reform UK is very very keen to support our drivers, making sure that every driver in this country is looked after as best as possible, that includes looking after our roads and making sure they are in better shape.
"As a county councillor, my biggest headache was potholes. Every day, multiple times, people contacting me, saying I need this pothole fixing. The filling is put in there and within a short space of time, that's lifted out. You get the same problem again and again.
"David's talking about resurfacing roads. We're looking at significant sums of money to get these roads fixed."
In January 2024 Beyond Radio ran this story on potholes after many complaints about the state of the roads.
Read more on our Morecambe & Lunesdale candidates' debate.
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