MORE than 170 miles of the region’s road network was in need of repair last year, new figures have revealed.

The data also showed that nearly a tenth of Southampton’s A-roads have been in need of repair over the past eight years.

Revealed as part the BBC Shared Data Unit’s research into the state of the countries road network, figures show that on average 9.3 per cent of Southampton’s A-roads, managed by the city council, were in need of maintenance between 2009 and 2017.

Nationally, Southampton City Council (SCC) was among the top 20 local authorities for percentage of A-roads in need of repair, with the City of London authority having the worst average of 15.3 per cent.

With B and C roads, Southampton faired better, ranking 49th in England.

But the data did show that the city’s A-road network improved significantly between 2016 and 2017, with the amount needing repair falling from 10 per cent to three per cent last year.

It follows a major resurfacing project being carried out by SCC on Bassett Avenue for the first time in 16 years.

Meanwhile, Hampshire County Council (HCC) outperformed the city council most years, only falling behind in 2009/10 when 11 per cent its B roads were in need of maintenance, compared to seven per cent in Southampton.

It comes after county councillor Rob Humby announced extra ‘pothole buster’ gangs are being sent out to tackle the damage done to the county’s road this winter.