Roads riddled with potholes leaves local residents 'embarrassed'
Watch as Kieran Mcfadzean visits Dumfries and Galloway to speak to local residents.
Dumfries and Galloway residents are "embarrassed" by the state of some of the roads in the region.
Various potholes and broken sections of tarmac are causing issues to locals and tourists looking to visit the south of Scotland.
Local councillor Denis Male says he is inundated with complaints about the state of the roads between Langholm and Newcastletown.
Cllr Denis Male said: "I am getting complaints every night, day, afternoon and morning. I get them by email and on Facebook.
"The main problem we have is while the A class and B class roads are being looked after quite well, in the rural areas where farmers depend on these roads we have not been able to find the finance to do them.
"That is something that has to change because we are now in this perfect storm where we have wind farms coming in, we have timber lorries going out and we have quarry wagons running about. They all have to do their business but the damage they are doing to the roads is impossible to repair."
The Tarras Valley Nature Reserve has been created in the region to attract more tourists to the local area.
Bringing bird watchers and nature enthusiasts to the region there are fears that the state of the roads could put off people wanting to holiday in the area.
Jenny Barlow, from the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve, said: "We have got some of the internationally important peatlands, ancient woodlands and stunning hen harriers.
"So we have got some amazing things that you can come and see here but we really need the basics to be in place like the roads.
"We are really concerned that after all of the hard work that has been put in by the community that our ambitions for eco tourism and to become a hub for eco tourism in the South of Scotland the basics are not in place.
"Also, because of the roads, people who do visit might not come back."
Local resident and cyclist George Barnfather thinks that the state of the roads is only going downhill. He said: "It is a disgrace and it is getting worse. It isn’t just this road there are other roads. It is a mess."
That view is echoed by fellow resident Sharon Tolson. She believes that is embarrassing for local people having to help stranded tourists trying to visit the area.
She said: "There was a particular visitor that got stuck in one of the craters.
"It took some of the local people to push it out. It is just awful and undoes all of the good work we have been doing to try and promote this area to visitors.
"It is embarrassing for locals as well just to see the road in such a state."
In response a Dumfries and Galloway Council statement said: "A new Roads Recovery Fund contract for the financial year has been prepared and issued to allow works to recommence, and we are progressing with the procurement process.
"On completion of the procurement process, we will return to these roads for repair, and note that the Newcastleton Road is among the first on our list for repairs."
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