South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth has accused the Scottish Government of letting South Ayrshire's roads crumble with the authority's road repair backlog rising in recent years.

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 South Ayrshire has risen from £46,441,000 in 2022 to £50,600,000 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.

He 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 South Ayrshire to crumble and taxpayers to pick up the bill.

“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.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Maintenance of the local road network is the responsibility of local authorities and it is up to individual local authorities to manage their day-to-day decision making and allocate the total financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities.

“We recognise the crucial role councils and their employees play in communities across Scotland."