A DARWEN councillor has slammed the condition of the town's roads.

Coun Roy Davies claims more and more holes are appearing yet the council seems no nearer repairing them.

A particular area for concern is Olive Lane/Sudellside Street.

Coun Davies said: "I have been trying to get something done about them for a while but all that keeps happening is a man comes to have a look and then sprays the area with white paint. Nothing is ever done to repair it.

"I am absolutely disgusted by the condition of some of the roads between Perry Street and Sudellside Street.

There are areas where you can see big patches of cobblestone but the council has said that if it is less than 40mm deep it doesn't rate highly on the list of repairs needed across the borough.

"Since the layer of asphalt is only about 20mm deep before it reaches the cobbles, it's never going to get done.

"It's totally unacceptable. If it keeps getting left, it will get worse and cost even more. I do have sympathy with the council in that they have to be responsible for the roads when they don't receive our road tax but they do receive some money from the government for highway maintenance."

Graham Burgess, executive director of regeneration and technical, said: "The current budget set aside by the council for resurfacing schemes is based on the budget inherited from Lancashire County Council. The council has kept this figure in line with inflation ever since.

"The council employs a specialist survey contractor each year to carry out an assessment of the entire highway network to make sure there are no dangerous road surfaces, and results are used to inform the resurfacing programme."