Southampton’s roads are in an abysmal state.

Year on year they have been neglected, with a lack of investment to mend them.

All across the city, the roads and pavements are riddled with potholes and broken surfaces and are literally falling to bits in front of our eyes.

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It has now got so bad that no administration in power will ever get on top of the repairs costing millions of pounds, to make our roads and pavements good again, because they have been left broken for too long.

It is an impossible task, never to be achieved!

Balfour Beatty, the preferred contractor, will no doubt soldier on making an attempt to patch and mend roads in the suburbs, with the major highways getting the bulk of money annually allocated to fix the roads.

As fast as a repair is made, another will appear nearby, waiting in turn to be later mended along with thousands of others.

Get used to it, because this problem will be around for decades...and beyond.

Southampton can have its fancy Arts Quarter, Westquay, Central Station Approach, and other high profile projects either completed or planned, but the surrounding roads are broken and in a right old state.

Makes you wonder about priorities really!

Richard A Jacob

Southampton