COUNTY Hall has pledged to find more money to help improve the state of the roads in Worcestershire.

Coun John Buckley, leader of the Labour group, has said people complain about roads more than anything else - and that extra cash is needed to keep on top of it.

His call has been welcomed by the Tory-led authority, which is investigating what Government funding is available to boost the coffers.

Coun Buckley, who is chairman of the scrutiny committee, has just finished an examination of road maintenance in Worcestershire. He said: "I feel the scrutiny group has a contribution to make in terms of finding new ways in which money can be made available for front line services.

"Everyone knows managing highways is a difficult job because everyone is throwing all their needs at the authority and wanting certain roads to be maintained.

"Whether it is the city council, parishes in the county, or PACT (a residents forum), everyone has their own separate needs.

"What we should be doing is looking at what extra money can be put towards maintaining our roads, because this issue is not going to go away. People complain about roads and footpaths more than anything else and want them looked after."

Highways boss Coun Derek Prodger, cabinet member for the environment, said: "It is a difficult job, and we will look at what extra funding there is to see if we can further improve the highways network.

"With 4,000 miles of road to maintain, it is a difficult task, but we will certainly look at what new funding we can get." Coun Adrian Hardman, cabinet member for finance, said: "I was extremely sceptical when this scrutiny project was launched and thought it was more political grind than service improvement, but I do think it's been useful."

Last year, the county council spent £52 million on the environment in Worcestershire, of which £22.5 million went on maintaining the roads.

About £800,000 was cut from this year's budget after it received lower than expected Government funding.