Shropshire Council postpones resurfacing work on 11 roads to 2025/26 in bid to balance budget

Shropshire Council has postponed the resurfacing of 11 roads as the cash-strapped authority reaches a "critical point" to secure its financial future.

Shropshire Council has announced the measures today in order to make savings of £62.5million during the current financial year to balance its budget.

The council says the 11 roads were due to be resurfaced before the end of March next year (the end of the financial year) as part of its annual resurfacing programme, however, the work will now be carried out during the 2025/26 financial year.

So far, 24 roads have been resurfaced across the county this year, with work set to begin on a further 12 in the coming weeks.

Shropshire Council's Cabinet member for highways, Dan Morris, said: "It’s no secret that we have to save £62.5m in the current financial year and we're now at a critical point to secure our future financial sustainability.

"We're working hard to balance the books and we have to examine every pound we spend to prioritise services for people who need us most. In many cases we will have no choice but to reduce the level of service we offer - and this includes highways maintenance.

"We have an obligation to ensure that our roads are safe for all road users and each of these 11 schemes has undergone a safety assessment and deemed to be safe for at least one more winter. If any safety issues do arise in the coming months these will be assessed and prioritised in line with the council's procedures and repairs carried out if necessary."