HEREFORDSHIRE is being left behind when it comes to cash for roads. Figures show funding differences of up to 119 per cent between the county and its neighbours.

Brian Tannatt Nash, former council cabinet member for the environment, says the statistics should be a sobering thought for his successor. Such 'overwhelming inequality' had to be contested at the highest level.

Herefordshire has some 3,240km of roads and a central Government maintenance allocation of £10,121,000 for 2000/01 - equivalent to £3,123 per km.

But South Gloucestershire, the nearest unitary authority, receives £6,833 per km - a whopping 119 per cent more. Shropshire gets £3,175 per km (nearly two per cent more), Gloucestershire £3,964 (nearly 27 per cent more), and Worcestershire £4,961 (59 per cent more).

"In fairness, not all roads are the same. Some are little-used country lanes and others major highways with heavy traffic. I'm sure that it is not as simple as allocating £s per km, and I know the Government has a complicated formula for determining the allocation," says Mr Tannatt Nash.

"But I ask you, does Worcestershire deserve 59 per cent per km of road more than us? For South Gloucestershire the formula and allocation must seem ludicrous."

The mismatch is a matter Mr Tannatt Nash hopes his successor can address. Central Government, he says, needs to end such 'overwhelming inequality'.