A crumbling rural rat run in Fife has been tagged as Courier Country’s worst road.
Inspectors found 95 potholes in need of repair on the Q7 which runs for 4.3 miles between Cupar and Kilmany.
Those who live along the single-track road, commonly used as a short cut between Cupar and Dundee, are so fed-up with its condition that many avoid using it and take the long way round.
Villagers in Kilmany and nearby Foodieash said cars had been damaged hitting holes in the road, which is also prone to flooding and mud, and fear that there will be a serious accident.
Kilmany resident Paul Humphries’z said: “I’m concerned that someone is going to come a cropper.”
Grant Jack, 50, Foodieash, said: “The potholes are really, really bad and when the road is muddy you can’t see them. I use it to go to Dundee two or three times a week, so it’s quite important to me that the road is kept at a reasonable standard.
“They need to get the road fixed, that’s the simple truth.”
The road’s state was lamented at a meeting of Fife Council’s north-east Fife area committee, when the council’s £95.6m maintenance backlog was flagged up.
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It was also revealed that the budget for area transportation works, which include roads, pavements, street lighting, road safety and traffic management, is expected to fall from £16m this year to £9.5m in 2017/18.
Committee member, Tay Bridgehead councillor Tim Brett said: “The roads are in a pretty awful condition.”
“I know from my own travels that there are potholes everywhere and clearly the transportation service is not keeping up.
“We are in a very difficult situation.
“The previous administration and this administration have put more funding into roads maintenance and any further cuts to roads maintenance should be avoided if possible.”
The council has a 24-hour or five-day target for dealing with surface defects, depending on their severity, and service manager David Brown confirmed that the necessary repairs to the Q7 were made within the timescale.
He also said inspectors and squads were out daily looking for potholes and filling in those recorded.
Persistent and heavy rain over the winter, he said, had caused further deterioration to road surfaces.
He said: “There is a league table and Fife is sitting about the middle.”
It has been revealed it would cost £95.6 million to get the region’s carriageways up to scratch.
Councillor Pat Callaghan, the council’s spokesperson for environment and transportation, said: “It would be great to have all our roads in first class condition but it’s estimated that this would cost around £95m.
“This obviously isn’t something we can currently consider when we have to save £91.5m by 2018/19.
“Any defects that are considered to pose an immediate risk are repaired within 24 hours with the rest repaired within five working days.”
The council pledged an additional £50m over nine years for maintenance from this April but a report by transport and environment head of assets Ken Gourlay said it was unlikely this would be sufficient to prevent further deterioration in the long term.