DRIVERS across North Ayrshire have been given some good and bad news about the state of the area’s roads.

Roads in the area are still among the poorest in Scotland, according to watchdog, Audit Scotland.

However, there is better news when looking at the level of improvements over the last five years.

While it sits in the bottom third of Scotland’s 32 local authorities when it comes to road quality, North Ayrshire Council is the fourth most improved on a 2011 survey, with more than a 10 per cent reduction in the number of roads considered unsatisfactory.

This has come at a time when the road network has faced some of the most damaging weather in living memory.

A North Ayrshire Council spokesperson said: “The safety of motorists and pedestrians is always our number one priority when managing North Ayrshire’s wide and

varied road network and we endeavour to maintain our roads to as high a standard as possible.

“We continue to work hard to maintain our roads and the improving picture in North Ayrshire – as confirmed by this audit – means that we are now the fourth most improved local authority in Scotland for road conditions since 2011.

“Our improvement over that period is significant at 10.1 per cent.

“During this period we have targeted investment towards Arran so that road conditions on the island is now commensurate with the mainland.”

We asked the council whether they had set out any specific targets for the future, but they insisted that their approach is to priority repairs and maintenance within their roads budget.

The spokesperson said: “We undertake regular safety inspections of all its public roads in accordance with the timescales recommended in the Well Maintained Highways - Code of Practice.

“Any issues identified are prioritised for repair depending on the severity of the defect and the likelihood that it could cause an incident.”

He added: “As well as undertaking annual condition assessments of all our roads, we also consider the Scottish Road Condition Maintenance survey information.

“This approach ensures an appropriate prioritisation of works in line with available budgets.”