Roads chiefs in East Ren say they're starting to win the battle to improve roads suffering from a maintenance backlog but soaring bitumen costs are making it harder for them to cover more ground this year.

Statutory performance figures released by ERC show that the percentage of roads needing maintenance has been reduced from 62 per cent in 2007 to 48 % in 2008.

That's thanks to a range of measures such as streamlining management systems and bringing in a new system, Rhinopatch, which speeds carriage repairs and cuts costs. The council also increased its roads maintenance budget by £200,000.

But rises in the price of oil have pushed up bitumen costs so that roads crews are trying to do more work with fewer materials and there are fears that this may slow the rate of progress.

Environment convener councillor Eddie Phillips said: "East Renfrewshire's roads take a pounding because we have one of the highest car ownership rates in Scotland and the area handles a great deal of through traffic.

"It's a considerable achievement by our roads staff to cut the maintenance backlog by 18 % in a year. That shows good management of resources but we accept that there is still a long way to go and we are aware that the rising cost of bitumen may create difficulties this financial year although we will do the best we can with the resources available."

Figures released earlier this year show it's not just local councils that are struggling.

The Alarm survey polled councils in England and Wales and found it would take an estimated 11 years in England (10.4 in London) and 16.1 years in Wales to clear the backlog of maintenance work required on non-motorway roads.