WILTSHIRE Council has been taken to task over its "unacceptable" response to a village's "neglected roads".

Parish councillors for Tisbury and the Donheads are calling for urgent action on damaged roads throughout the area as potholes plague the two villages.

At a meeting of the local Area Board in November, Wiltshire councillor Caroline Thomas, cabinet member for transport, spoke of the county's 2,750 miles of roads and how much money and effort the council puts into maintaining them.

Following the meeting, Liberal Democrat Cllr Richard Budden sent Cllr Thomas a map marking 16 of the places in the Donheads where the road surface has broken down.

Salisbury Journal: John Feltham (Left) chair of Donhead St Mary Parish Council, Cllr Richard Budden, and Simon Barkham, chair of Donhead St Andrew Parish Council.John Feltham (Left) chair of Donhead St Mary Parish Council, Cllr Richard Budden, and Simon Barkham, chair of Donhead St Andrew Parish Council. (Image: Richard Budden)

Cllr Burden said since sending the email the impact of winter weather and storm Henk have only made matters worse.

Describing the state of the area's roads as "atrocious", Cllr Burden added: "You cannot drive into or through either of the Donhead communities without coming across stretches where the surface is completely broken down."

Cllr Burden was told Wiltshire Council's officers will be in a position to reply "in due course" which he has branded "simply unacceptable" to the people who must travel on the broken-down roads every day.

"They deserve the courtesy at least of a clear statement as to how long they will have to tolerate these awful conditions before they are put right," he added.

Wiltshire Council was approached for comment.