By Dave Lord

A stretch of Perthshire road which last year claimed five lives in just one incident is in a dangerously poor state of repair, it has been claimed.

Just over one year since three members of one family from Methven and two teenagers from Crieff perished in a two-vehicle collision, a local motorcyclist has criticised Scotland Transerv over the “seriously poor” state of the A85 Burnbrae straight.

The stretch of road outside Methven has caused much concern among motorists.

Campaigners have called for new signs, road markings and other safety measures to be introduced.

Now Crieff man John Gauld has said the state of the road surface itself is very poor and could cause further accidents.

“As a motorcyclist who lives and works in Crieff I have become extremely concerned about the state of repair of the A85 between my home town and Perth,” Mr Gauld said.

“In my view it is in a dangerous state of repair.

“Two weeks ago I contacted Scotland Transerv to report several serious faults which have been there for some time and have not been remedied.”

When contacted, a spokesman for Scotland Transerv said, “I have contacted our depot based in the area to advise them of your concerns.

“Our road network is inspected on a weekly basis to ensure the infrastructure is maintained to a high standard.

“In addition, any Scotland Transerv employee travelling on our network will notify the relevant depot to inform them of any defect on the road.”

However that response has only served to infuriate Mr Gauld yet further.

He insists the faults on the A85 at Burnbrae are “clear to see.”

“I am extremely frustrated with the reply as the road faults have been there for at least six months —and they are not getting better by themselves,” Mr Gauld said.

“How can Scotland Transerv fail to see these faults when they are carrying out weekly inspections?” he added.

“I am simply at a loss to explain this.”

Mr Gauld has now taken photographs of damaged areas of road.

He has sent these to Scotland Transerv.

“Faults have not been addressed and I hope this will force them to see just how bad the road condition has become at the Burnbrae straight,” he added.