Highways chiefs have insisted they are doing their “very best” to deal with Cumbria’s failing road network as they manage a shrinking budget.

The comments came after county council leader Stewart Young raised serious concerns over the “shocking” condition of Carlisle’s Upperby Road, only to hear that there was no money left in the coffers to address the issue.

Gareth Scott, of the highways department, was urged to find the money following escalating complaints from city residents and councillors about the pot-holed road.

But he told a meeting of Carlisle’s Local Committee that there was nothing in the plan for this year and it would not be a good use of highways’ money “at this time”.

Upperby Road is one of “a number” of roads across the city in need of resurfacing which could possibly be targeted sooner if the Department for Transport gave the council more cash.

But Mr Young continued to press the highways team to address the problem this year, even if the standards of the road were not quite bad enough to make the priority list.

He said: “It doesn’t wash with the public because their experience, when they drive down the road, is that it’s absolutely appalling. I know it gets measured and there’s a technical assessment but I think sometimes we have to use the highways budget to address the concerns of residents even if it might not meet the strict criteria.”

Concerns were also raised by councillor Elizabeth Mallinson about the “deterioration” of Brampton Road. She suggested that utility companies who fail to reinstate the carriageway properly following works should be “held to account.”

“Surely that would help to alleviate out hard-pressed county council highways budget,” she added.

However, highways chiefs revealed that council policy was moving toward a “more rigorous” permit system which would allow them to raise extra cash so they could better supervise utility and maintenance works.

The highways department has a capital budget of more than £3.1m and a revenue budget of £1.3m for 2019/20.

Mr Scott said: “We have to cut our cloth accordingly like many services. Unfortunately, there is a decline in the condition of the network and that’s down to the amount of money that’s made available to councils on top of everything else we have to do, and adding to that the savings we need to find.

“We are doing the very best we can with the money that is made available to us. Unfortunately, it’s not as much as we would like but we are doing the very best we can with what we’ve got.”