MAIN roads and country lanes in Ryedale need £5m spending on repair and maintenance, according to engineers.

Peter Renshaw, Ryedale divisional engineer for North Yorkshire County Council, said only a fraction of the work can be done because of a lack of funds.

Mr Renshaw, who is head of the Kirkbymoorside highways depot, said: "We need £5m, but we are only able to get £1.5m a year.

"As a result, we now have a tremendous backlog of repairs, especially on the class three and unclassified roads."

He said the increasing number of heavy axelled vehicles travelling through Ryedale, using "rat runs" to get from Teesside to the Humber ports, was causing an untold amount of damage.

"In some cases, roads built for cars and light traffic are are an inch thick," said Mr Renshaw.

"In total, £500,000 is spent on repairs to Ryedale's roads each year, but the situation is being reached where roads that were historically resurfaced every seven years, now face being done only once every 14 years."

The state of the roads in Ryedale has been made worse by the floods of June 19 when damage worth £800,000 was caused.