Rural roads could be abandoned altogether if more funding is not found to repair them.

The warning comes from local councils, which are urging the government to act quickly in order to reverse the ever-growing problem of potholes in the road network. Authorities state that the continuous lack of investment means they are having to simply apply patches to the problems, rather than resolve them completely.

Local councils estimate that there is a repair backlog of £10.5 billion, while the contractor hired to carry out the repair work on behalf of the government has stated the issues currently facing the road network have exposed a chronic lack of investment over the past few years.

Bert Biscoe, cabinet member of transport for transport at Cornwall council, commented: "We're going to have to consider withdrawing maintenance from the rural road network. If we withdraw, we will be pulling the legs out from under the Cornish economy."

However, the concerns have been dismissed by the Department for Transport, which claimed that £3.4 billion has been provided to assist with local highway maintenance over the duration of this Parliament. It added that the responsibility to manage appropriate contingency strategies rested solely with local authorities.