I RECENTLY had to make two consecutive road trips by car. The first was from Devizes to Salisbury. The second was from Devizes to Swindon. After both bone-jarring journeys I felt that perhaps I should consult my dentist to check that my fillings had not shaken loose, such was the poor state of repair of the roads I had used. It was impossible to steer to avoid the bad patches of road surface and potholes because they were so numerous.

A couple of days later my car was subjected to its annual MOT check and although it passed I was advised that both front shock absorbers were showing signs of wear and would soon need replacement. I must add the eventual cost of this to the £260 I have had to spend recently replacing tyres that were not worn out but damaged due to driving into potholes.

When I visited Romania in 1989 I was shocked by the poor state of repair into which their roads had been allowed to sink. It alarms me to see Wiltshire roads approaching a similar state of disrepair.

The Asphalt Industry Alliance has recently released a statement claiming that £12billion needs to be spent now to reverse decades of underfunding of the repair of our local roads. I heard a spokesman for the Alliance broadcasting on TV and he was highly critical of the way local authorities waste money patching potholes. He claimed that this did more harm than good and the only way to fix the problem was to resurface properly. It was stated that in the end this was more cost effective and efficient.

Of course, we all know that we are living through times of austerity and at both national and local level there is a lot of belt-tightening having to take place to find savings and make the money stretch further. I can appreciate the challenges being faced at County Hall when there are so many competing bids for what tax payers' money is available to meet the many needs. Deciding the priorities cannot be very easy when trying to cope with so many services that are under extreme pressure.

It is the assertion of the Asphalt Industry Alliance that the Government does have the money to maintain our roads to a satisfactory standard but it prefers to allocate it for other purposes rather than grant local authorities more cash to met their road repair obligations.

Projects such as the proposed HS2 railway or driving a new road tunnel through the Pennines get Government politicians much more excited than giving local authorities the cash so urgently needed to correct the road repair situation that is rapidly deteriorating into crisis.

We are often told by our political masters that our nation’s transport systems play a vital part in keeping the economy strong. I can see the point they are making but then I am confused by their decisions and actions that contradict their words. Surely, moving people and goods safely and in reasonable comfort along our local roads should fit into the strategy of keeping our transport systems efficient?

Our local Wiltshire councillor, Richard Gamble, made comment in the latest parish magazine admitting that the local roads are in a poor state. He asks if anyone has £15m to spare that could be used to repair them. Well, Councillor Gamble, I don’t have £15m to spare but I know a man that could grant you the money by revising his priorities a little. He lives at 11, Downing Street, London.