A senior councillor has claimed the condition of a major roundabout in Newcastle is the 'worst in living memory' as criticism grows over the state of Staffordshire's roads.

Councillor Simon Tagg said residents were seeing worsening road conditions across the county and accused Staffordshire County Council's Reform administration of failing to deliver repairs quickly enough.

Speaking during a county council meeting, he said that potholes weren't being filled when residents needed them and highlighted the condition of the Grosvenor Roundabout in the town centre.

Councillor Tagg said there had been a deterioration in road conditions in the county and criticised the new highway strategy produced by Reform UK at Staffordshire County Council. He said: "We've seen failures across all fronts.

"We've seen repair programmes paused against warning of officers and this group of the impact, we've seen fewer potholes filled at precisely the time when residents need action most and when it's best to do pothole repairs and we've seen unacceptable delays in delivery of schemes that were promised.

"Residents don't experience highway policies on a spreadsheet or strategy; they experience it in everyday conditions they see on the roads, whether they're driving, cycling or walking. Right now in many parts of Staffordshire I believe there is a deterioration of conditions.

"Take locations such as Grovensor roundabout in Newcastle town centre, where we see defects increasing and the road conditions getting worse. So residents are actually saying that it's the worst they've seen those roundabouts in living memory."

Councillor Tagg also slammed the administration on the use of T markings, which are used to highlight road defects, saying that they raise expectations.

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He added: "I think people expect repairs to take place timely and properly and that the roads are safe. Residents have also seen an increase in the alphabet soup of T markings across the temporary repairs.

"These markings, I believe, raise expectations and suggest a permanent fix is coming. We are already seeing those markings beginning to wear off and the defects returning."

However, Councillor Peter Mason, Cabinet Member for Strategic Highways defended the record. He claimed that the number of potholes in the county had doubled in the past five years and on average the administration was repairing five per cent more potholes each year.

He said: "The funding pressures are significant and always have been and you do need to do the best you can with the money you've got available, which is why we did publish a strategy. We published a strategy about putting together packages of work.

"This means you do your planning, your traffic management and all the back office costs, once, you visit the site once and you do as much work as possible. It is something that will actually deliver more work on the ground for the money we've got."