Roads in Staffordshire will be a prioirty in immediate future according to a local councillor.

Councillor Alan White said his administration was working on a plan to improve the condition of highways across the county, after the Government slashed funding to repair damaged roads.

Mr White now has a huge majority of 52 in the council chamber after picking up seven gains in last week’s local elections. He said the authority was determined to “reward the faith” of voters by “delivering the goods” on priority issues including roads and children’s services.

He told the Express & Star: “One of the things we really want to be tackling is the infrastructure issues. We know that our highways aren’t in quite as good a condition as they ought to be.

“Government hasn’t been quite as generous as we would have hoped with the funding for highways, so we need to think about how we can solve those problems for people.

“Council tax payers expect to get something for their money, and that’s entirely reasonable and far. So what we want to do is start to tackle those issues that are close to their hearts.”

The horrendous condition of Staffordshire’s roads has been a major problem for years, with plans unveiled last month to spend £5 million on fixing an estimated 11,000 potholes.

Earlier this year the Department for Transport announced that Staffordshire’s annual highways maintenance budget – which includes cash for pothole repairs – had been cut by 26 per cent to £25.1m.

The authority will also be given £3.4m for road safety schemes.