South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth has accused the Scottish Government of letting Scotland’s roads crumble as it reveals Dumfries and Galloway’s road repair backlog has risen by an eyewatering £36,471,000.

Information obtained by Freedom of Information requests from Scottish Labour have revealed that the current estimated cost of the repair backlog for local roads in the region has risen from £217,000,000 in 2022 to £253,471,000 in 2024.

Colin Smyth has pointed to years of “brutal” cuts to Council budgets by the Scottish government, which have hit unringfenced areas such as transport particularly hard.

Colin Smyth said: “These astonishing figures lay bare the dire state of disrepair on our local roads after years of brutal neglect under the SNP.

“They have cut local government funding to the bone, leaving roads across the region to crumble and taxpayers to pick up the bill.

“For example, in Dumfries and Galloway, the region has the third largest road network in Scotland but one of the smallest grants from central government to maintain those roads.

“Our pothole-ridden roads are a daily reminder of how badly the Scottish Government have let down communities and failed to properly fund councils.

“The Scottish Government must stop burying their heads in the sand about this and show some leadership dealing with the mess they created.”