LIB DEM MP SUPPORTS CONSERVATIVE POSITION

Conservatives in Somerset received support from an unlikely source yesterday - David Heath, the local Lib Dem MP and former Leader of Somerset County Council.

Speaking in Parliament, David Heath, Lib Dem MP for Somerton & Frome, stated that the roads in Somerset "have deteriorated very badly. They are full of potholes and there is a massive problem with the backlog of road maintenance", and that, "the state of the roads causes danger and discomfort.''

Conservatives at Somerset County Council have been campaigning long and hard for the beleaguered Lib Dems at County Hall to repair Somerset's roads, but, until yesterday, the Lib Dems would not admit that there was a problem.

Indeed, the Lib Dems went as far as to scrap the backlog highways repairs and maintenance budget in February, only for their own officers to announce that the number of safety defects had increased significantly, and that there was also a deterioration in the condition of both major and minor roads across the county. It is therefore no surprise that the number of claims for damage to vehicles that Somerset County Council receives has increased by over 50% in the last three years.

Anthony Trollope-Bellew, Conservative Group spokesman on Highways, commented, "We have been telling the Lib Dems how poor the roads in Somerset are, but they ignored us and accused us of electioneering and scaremongering. Then the highways engineers at County Hall told them in official reports, but still they took no notice. I can only hope that now the local Lib Dem MP and former leader of Somerset County Council has come out in support of us that his colleagues at County Hall will pay attention.''

Ken Maddock, Leader of Somerset County Council's Conservative Group, concluded, "The Lib Dems have been making cuts to vital services in Somerset, and claiming that they will not have an impact on people's lives. They have constantly denied that Somerset's roads are getting worse, even though everyone else in Somerset knows how bad they have become. I can only applaud David Heath MP for putting party politics to one side and standing up for the road users of Somerset, who the Lib Dems at County Hall have made suffer for too long. Conservatives will rescue our roads and make Somerset a better place to live.''

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