BURY North MP James Frith and Bury Council leader Rishi Shori have joined forces to back a campaign by the RAC to tackle potholes.

The roadside rescue business has called for increased government support for councils, with 2p a litre to be invested from fuel duty into local road maintenance.

The latest figures produced by the RAC show the number of cars damaged by potholes has reached a three-year high.

The figures come as new data from the Local Government Association (LGA) shows that there are an additional 2.5 million vehicles on our roads compared to 2013.

The estimated bill for the total backlog of road repairs across the country stands at £9.3 billion. The LGA, which represents 415 local councils in England and Wales, is also backing the RAC campaign.

Mr Frith said: “I thought MP meant Member of Parliament, but it often means Member for Potholes if the casework received by my office is any measure of the job.

“Chronic government underfunding of highway maintenance has led to the mess we’re in and local people are paying the price.

"Only long-term, consistent and fairer government investment in local road maintenance can allow councils like Bury to carry out the widespread improvement of our roads that is desperately needed.”

Cllr Rishi Shori said: “The state of our highways is a major issue wherever you go in the country.

"Bury Council has invested an additional £10 million over three years to deal with the worst roads and we’re making progress, with an average of 400 potholes repaired every week and the number of potholes reported going down every month since April.

“Despite this, we’re not able to bring every road up to the standard expected with the money we have been given by the government and the LGA and RAC are right to call on ministers to take further steps to allocate more and longer-term funding.”