CALLS have been made for the Scottish Government to invest more in Fife’s roads, after figures revealed that it would cost more than £100 million to repair potholes in the Kingdom.

Information received through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed that nationwide pothole repairs would cost the Scottish Government £2.6 billion.

Four local authorities did not release their data, which means that the figure could be even higher across Scotland.

These figures were drawn attention to by Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Alex Rowley, Scottish Labour Transport spokesperson, who accused the Scottish Government of “letting Fife’s roads crumble”.

He said: “Under the SNP, Scotland’s roads have been left to crumble and drivers are paying the price.

“The cost for fixing the backlog of repairs in Fife has increased by almost £23 million and now sits at a staggering £100 million.

“Councils are struggling with massive levels of underfunding from the Scottish Government and the continued hollowing out council budgets is completely unacceptable.”

As per the findings, the Fife repair cost sits at £100,329,000, which is a rise of just under £23 million in the last two years.

While the repair work responsibility sits with councils, Mr Rowley insists that councils are powerless to act due to tight budget cuts imposed by the Scottish Government.

He continued: “My office gets regular contact from constituents regarding the state of roads and when I raise this with ministers they point the finger at councils but fail to acknowledge they have cut the council budgets to the bone.

“I am urging ministers to work with councils to develop a funded approach to fixing our broken roads infrastructure.

“I continue to urge all road users in Fife to report any potholes they come across.

“It is much more difficult to claim compensation for a pothole causing damage if it has not already been reported as local authorities can claim they were unaware of the issue.”

The Press approached the Scottish Government to ask if they had plans to work through the repair backlog.

They confirmed that the responsibility lay with local councils, but that they had invested over £10 billion to support Scotland’s infrastructure.

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: “Maintenance of the local road network is the responsibility of local authorities and it is up to individual local authorities to manage their day to day decision making and allocate the total financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities.

“We recognise the crucial role councils and their employees play in communities across Scotland.

“That’s why, this year, the Scottish Government has made available over £14 billion to local councils – a real-terms increase of 2.5 per cent compared with the previous year.

“This year, Fife Council will receive £875 million to fund local services.”

Anyone wishing to report a pothole in Fife can do so by calling 03451 55 00 11 from 8am to 6pm on Monday to Friday.

Alternatively, a complaint form can be filled out here.