AS A follow up to the recent article and in response to Vernon Smith’s claim of a monthly inspection of all the roads in the county, all I can say is that he must have a very strange inspection criteria.

Perhaps as the potholes get deeper and wider his criteria keeps getting “adjusted”.

He says he is aware of the collapsing drain cover on the A46 and it will “repaired as soon as possible”.

Could I remind him that two of his staff “repaired” it on the June 18, but they were only allowed to “repair” the bit with a yellow line round it.

They told me they could have done a complete repair then but due to the “efficiency improvements” they weren’t allowed to.

On the August 6, 2014, I reported drains blocked on the A46 and was given a job number.

While I was waiting for the phone to be answered I had to listen to a recording telling me that my call was being recorded for, amongst other things “service delivery” purposes.

Many calls and 13 months later the drains remain blocked even though I have been assured every time I phone that they will be done in the next few days. Perhaps Vernon Smith could tell readers what the criteria is for “service delivery”.

In the last few weeks a length of road in Nailsworth town centre has had what I believe is called a surface dressing put on it.

It is such an insignificant piece of road that I have been unable to find anyone who knows why they bothered but I can only believe it was so that Amey can add it to their total of miles of roads they have “resurfaced” and presumably it came within Vernon Smith’s inspection criteria.

If that wasn’t bad enough the contractor that did the work, presumably because Amey is too efficient to do the work themselves, filled a drain with Tarmac.

I assume this is so that a drain that isn’t a drain any longer doesn’t need to come up to any inspection criteria.

I am sure very few readers will need to be reminded that the road from Nailsworth to Horsley collapsed in January 2014 and as far as the motorist is concerned absolutely nothing has been done to repair it since.

Was there an inspection criteria in force when that happened or was it as I suspect just that the drains weren’t cleaned out?

Glos Highways will probably dispute it but all these problems should be a wake up call to those in Shire Hall.

Howard Price

Nailsworth