ROADS in two York villages have been branded a pothole-ridden “disgrace” as a wait for repairs goes on.

Concerns over the effect of cuts in City of York Council’s highway maintenance budget have been raised after cracks in the surface of roads in Bishopthorpe and Acaster Malbis led to the routes being described as “an accident waiting to happen”.

Bishopthorpe councillor John Galvin said a resurfacing scheme originally earmarked for sections of Mill Lane, in Acaster Malbis, had now been put back to next year after the amount of cash available for road repairs in York was reduced by £200,000 when the council’s budget was set earlier this year.

He also claimed despite the Labour-controlled authority having a policy to fix potholes which are more than 40mm deep within 20 working days, or four weeks, some holes in the Bishopthorpe area had still not been repaired eight weeks after they were first reported, and gulleys were becoming blocked by rubble from “deteriorating” road surfaces.

Coun Galvin, a member of the council’s Conservative group, said he feared more budget reductions next year.

He said: “The result is that Mill Lane, parts of which were scheduled to be resurfaced in the current financial year before the scheme was cut and put on the provisional list for 2013/14, is in an appalling condition. The blocked gulleys have led to the possibility of increased flooding following recent heavy rain, and the substantial cuts to the maintenance budget has meant the loss of one repair team and the highways inspector, delaying repairs to serious potholes and resulting in the failure of the council to meet its own repair target.”

“Blaming Government cuts is not an acceptable excuse for Labour’s mishandling of highways maintenance. Further budget cuts will inevitably lead to a serious build-up of repairs needing attention.”

Coun Sandy Fraser, cabinet member for environmental services, said: “Coun Galvin and his party support their Government’s swingeing cuts to local authority budgets, then oppose those same cuts locally – the kind of rank hypocrisy we are growing used to.

“If he expects to see no difference in services from his party’s cuts, he’s living in cloud cuckoo land. Inevitably, with less money, some schemes will be put back, but the council will retain two highway gangs and two inspectors with the savings made. The maintenance of our highways network is extremely important, and we will ensure good standards are maintained with the limited resources we have available.”