WITNEY MP Robert Courts has accepted a pothole campaigner's challenge to tackle West Oxfordshire's damaged roads firsthand.

Mark Morrell, also known as Mr Pothole, called for Mr Courts to join him in investigating the problem in person, adding it would 'open his eyes more than sitting in the [House of] Commons'.

The Conservative, who sits on Parliament's Transport Select Committee, has campaigned for upgrades to the A40, including improvements to the road surface, since his election in 2016.

In July, Oxfordshire County Council spent £300,000 resurfacing a 500m stretch of the road at Barnard Gate, near Witney, as part of hundreds of thousands of pounds ploughed into projects across the district last year.

With more damage expected over the winter months, Mr Courts said he welcomed Mr Morrell's interest and pledged to meet the campaigner.

He said: “Living locally, when I travel around West Oxfordshire I am acutely aware of the challenges we face.

“I have led the campaign for upgrades to the A40 and improvements to the road surface.

"We are moving in the right direction, with recent work at Barnard’s Gate transforming a historically neglected section of the road.

"Further funding in the pipeline will ensure the road is further improved and then maintained to a high standard.

“There is certainly a need to build on the significant progress that has been made in recent months, especially as the winter weather will inevitably cause some damage.

“I would be happy to meet with Mr Pothole to discuss West Oxfordshire’s roads and explain to him the progress that has been made – and will continue to be made – to bring them up to the standard that we all want them to be at.”

In addition to Barnard Gate, the county council completed several major resurfacing projects in West Oxfordshire in 2018.

Shipton Road in Woodstock underwent £224,473 of drainage improvements, kerb repairs and resurfacing between the Hensington Road roundabout and Randolph Avenue.

Meanwhile, £190,629 was spent resurfacing Witney Road, Eynsham, £133,839 on Witney's Woodgreen Hill and £98,555 on works at Witney High Street and Witan Way, among others.

Between January 1 and November 30, the county council also fixed 10,280 kerb defects across West Oxfordshire, including potholes, blocked drains and loose kerbstones.

The Transport Select Committee is currently running an inquiry on potholes, which involves 'taking evidence from road experts and examining the issue in detail', Mr Courts explained.

The MP urged for this not to be downplayed as inquiries 'often have great influence on government thinking'.

But Mr Morrell, who investigated Witney's potholes with district councillor Duncan Enright in 2016, believes a visit in person would be more beneficial.

The campaigner said: "You can say anything in the Commons - what would be better is actually coming out and looking at the state of the roads and explaining what the real issues are.

"If people like Robert Courts are willing to sort this out once and for all I want to speak to them.

"I'm not trying to stitch anyone up, I just want to get to the heart of the problem.

He added: "The A40 is appalling for the category of road and the volume of traffic on there."

In March, the government pledged £1.8m to help fix potholes in Oxfordshire, while the county council committed an extra £10m to spend on repairing and improving road surfaces in 2018.

Many resurfacing projects were 'only possible' due to this extra capital investment, the council added.

The government also recently awarded the county council an extra £7.4m to use on road repairs over the rest of the current financial year, which runs until April.

Yvonne Constance, the council's cabinet member for environment, insisted the organisation was ahead of the game when it came to potholes across the county.

She said: "I'm interested that Mr Pothole has attracted Robert Courts's attention but the reality is that Oxfordshire County Council has repaired more than 40,000 highway defects this year, which is a record.

"We have additional teams and three dragon patchers at work.

"With £10m to spend on resurfacing projects, we're way ahead of the deterioration."