RURAL roads in Monmouthshire will soon be little better than cart tracks, unless they are repaired, highways chiefs warn.

A total of £39m is needed to bring the county's roads up to standard, or 44 per cent of the rural roads will soon be almost unuseable, councillors have been told.

Paul Frampton, the county's highways manager, told environment select committee members that 85 per cent of the road network needed treatment, and of these, 16 per cent of the county's A classified roads had zero life left in them.

Maintenance backlog details were contained in a report from senior engineer Alan Slade.

Chairman Councillor Val Smith pointed out that the road network was the public service used most frequently.

Councillor Bill Edwards described the present maintenance programme as "putting a sticking plaster over the wounds".

But the council's highways cabinet member, Councillor Giles Howard, said the council needed to lobby the Assembly for extra funding.

Councillor John Harrhy said officers had been warning of the desperate state of the roads for years, but it was a nationwide problem.

"Our roads are a disgrace and there is transport using them that should never be on there; the roads were made for horses and carts."

Mr Frampton said the roads were at their best in the early 1980s and had been deteriorating ever since. He added: "The problem is, which roads do we protect? Maybe we should start with all A and B roads?"

Councillor Harrhy said he agreed because some roads only served one or two properties. "Perhaps they should become green lanes?" he asked. Councillor Donald Spencer said the highways department had always been in a very poor financial position and it all stemmed from the start of unitary authorities in 1995.

He said: "The carve-up of Gwent County Council was done on a population basis rather than taking into account road lengths, so Monmouthshire started in a weak position."