Anna Sabine

As the MP for Frome and East Somerset, I represent a semi-rural constituency and regularly drive around its more remote areas. Rural roads are often deprioritised because they carry less traffic, but, for the people who rely on them, they are absolutely essential. In many of these areas, public transport is limited or infrequent, meaning that residents have no alternative but to use these roads daily. Just today, two constituents, Jacquie and John, wrote to me about a pothole near their home in Batcombe. They described what they called a monstrous pothole around two feet wide and up to a foot deep on the back roads between Batcombe and Bruton. It was not formed recently; it has been there for months. It is a serious hazard, and it is becoming an all too familiar sight for many rural residents. Chronic underfunding has left rural roads behind, and the consequences are visible in every cracked surface and recurring pothole. While the Government have begun to address this issue, it is vital that funding is not only increased but sustained over the long term to tackle the decades-long backlog. Rural communities deserve the same quality of infrastructure as anywhere else, and constituents should not have to navigate dangerous roads or bear unnecessary costs.