A MAJOR Perthshire road which has allegedly been in an unacceptable state for over a year should be upgraded as a matter of urgency, an MSP insisted yesterday.

North Tayside parliamentarian John Swinney pressed for surface improvements on the A923 between Coupar Angus and Dundee.

Despite some work having been carried out, he believes that the Tullybaccart area still desperately requires further upgrading.

“This matter was first raised over a year ago and a road surface coating was laid at the area,” said Mr Swinney.

“Since then this coating has broken up and has caused the surface to become poor again.”

The MSP claimed that numerous local residents had been in touch with him to discuss their concerns regarding the road.

“This area of road was previously surface dressed by Perth and Kinross Council,” continued Mr Swinney.

“This process seals the road surface to extend its life and increases skidding resistance.

“Unfortunately there was some deterioration after this dressing was completed and, despite remedial work on some areas, this deterioration has continued.

“My constituents recently raised this issue with me once more and I wrote again to Perth and Kinross Council to press the issue.

“During the cold weather in late 2004, stone chippings came loose and some of these stones have been thrown up by passing cars.”

Mr Swinney is looking forward to further improvements being carried out in the near future.

“The council have recognised that some areas require further work and they are considering resurfacing parts of the area with asphalt and some further redressing,” he said.

“I hope that the work identified by the local authority will be completed as soon as possible and we can see a decent surface on what is a major route between Dundee and Coupar Angus and Blairgowrie.”