In its ‘Maintaining Scotland’s Roads’ publication, public spending watchdog Audit Scotland found that spending by Scotland’s local authorities on roads maintenance had declined by 14 per cent since 2011/12.

While the majority of roads classed as being in an ‘acceptable’ condition remained constant over this period, the report urged road authorities to take “urgent action” to improve the quality of the country’s roads.

The Highland Council’s chair of communities services, Allan Henderson, has now said the local authority is “certainly not ignoring the issue and hoping it goes away”.

“We have taken action by investing an extra £25 million into our roads network over the next 9 years,” he said. “This is over and above the annual maintenance budget. We’ve also invested in hiring jet patching machines which have been operating across all areas over the last few months.

“They have received very positive reports regarding their speed and quality so we’re also in the process of procuring one for ourselves. This will go some way in addressing local needs.”