Reading between the lines in the corridors of power in Wiltshire’s County Hall, it would seem that yet again next year we will be seeing further cuts to the Wiltshire Highways budget.

It is being suggested by some members of the council that the Conservatives are considering slashing more than £1.5 million from the budget.

This is nothing new. When I was first elected to Wiltshire County Council in the 1980s, it was always the highways budget that got axed to fund other services – that’s more than 30 years of cuts that I know of.

We just cannot keep cutting, the roads and footways are falling apart in front of our eyes. If we keep cutting the highways budget we will never catch up with the backlog of repairs that are in urgent need of attention.

As a local councillor it was always dog mess that was the number one complaint, but not anymore, the number one complaint is by far the state of our roads in Wiltshire.

I understand that savings have to be made, however the highways budget would be just one cut too many and I’m sure the public would agree.

Coun Terry Chivers, Independent Melksham Without North, Eden Grove, Whitley.