LANCASHIRE County Council has been condemned for failing to spend almost £30million on much-needed road repairs.

The attack on the authority’s Tory leadership was made by Liberal Democrat group leader and Pendle Rural councillor David Whipp after its ruling cabinet debated its financial position.

The document from chief executive Angie Ridgwell showed a £20m underspend on its revenue budget and a £50m underspend on its capital budget in 2017/18.

It included a shortfall in expenditure on normal highways repairs of £8.35m and a saving in major transport and highways projects for the year of £28.8m.

Cllr Whipp said: “This Conservative administration had failed to deliver £29.59m of road repair and improvement projects during the financial year.

“This is a massive £30m road improvement failure. The Tories got elected on a ticket of improving our roads, but our streets have gone from bad to worse.

“As our roads and streets become a patchwork of potholes and bodged pothole repairs, county bosses are sat on a mountain of unspent money they innocently refer to as ‘underspends’.

Council leader Cllr Geoff Driver said: “I always knew Cllr Whipp did not understand local government finance but I did think that he could at least read.

“The report makes it perfectly clear that the reductions in revenue expenditure are due to our changing the way expenditure is financed for the long-term benefit of the people of Lancashire,” said Cllr Driver

He accused Labour opposition leader Cllr Azhar Ali of ‘scaremongering’ when the Nelson East representative said the projected £144m deficit by 2021 left the authority in a ‘very serious position’ for the future.

The Cabinet meeting approved rises in the fees for marriage and civil partnership ceremonies of up to one-third and a cut in low-level advocacy services to help people with learning disabilities.

Labour deputy leader Cllr John Fillis accused the Tories of proposing to ‘crash and burn’ county services.

Cllr Ali backed Cllr Whipp during the meeting complaining of the potholed state of roads in his Nelson East ward and Pendle borough generally.