Sir – Am I alone in my dismay at the neglect of the roads within Oxford and the wider county? Many are major thoroughfares that urgently need major repair or reconstruction.

However, what seems obvious to me seems invisible to our elected councilors and those responsible for their maintenance. It also appears that the statutory requirement to inspect roads has been forgotten.

Some examples (among many) requiring urgent attention:

1: The London Road — from the Green Road roundabout to the city, this has needed resurfacing for at least 18 months yet still no action — other than a promise of a study and possibly action later this year after a redesign — this major route into the city needs resurfacing now

2: The Woodstock and Banbury roads will require major resurfacing this year; in many places the engineering is so poor that the roads don’t drain even after only modest amounts of rain; Oakthorpe Road looks like a moonscape as it has so many potholes and botched repairs

3: Drain and gully emptying have largely stopped in town and on the main roads — quite how this contributes to road safety is beyond me (almost all of the drains on the northbound A44 between the Wolvercote roundabout and the Pear Tree roundabout are blocked)

4: Resurfacing is required on the Wolvercote and the Cutteslowe roundabouts.

I could go on but you get the point. My question: when will the county and town councils and our elected representatives take some action? Perhaps Mr Nimmo Smith, the cabinet member for transport, could address these points and enlighten the voters about the council’s plans to address the general roads maintenance backlog. In a gross spend of £1.149bn, the money should be easy to find.

Simon Jefferson, Oxford