A BODMIN town councillor has expressed his frustration in the state of the town’s roads.

Cllr Andy Coppin, a former mayor of the town and a councillor who has been a member of Bodmin Town Council since 2007, has recently made it his mission to report as many potholes in the town as he can.

By publicising his latest reports, Cllr Coppin is also seeking to encourage members of the public to become familiar with how to report potholes they see in order to improve the state of Bodmin’s roads.

Despite being just outside of his council division, Cllr Coppin and Tindle Newspapers were contacted by a resident who wished to bring to attention a road on the outskirts of the town centre which Cllr Coppin described afterwards as ‘looking like a bomb had hit it’.

Midway Road is a road in the town, which is split into two sections, with the part which the resident had raised concern about intersecting with the entrance to Home Bargains.

Upon visiting, it was observed that the entire section of the road had multiple potholes, with both the resident concerned and others using the road for business commenting on its condition.

The resident said: “It is almost impossible to drive on this road without hitting a pothole – in fact, it’s easier to count the bits that aren’t affected. Over the last few years, we’ve had multiple instances of the council coming out to fill the potholes, but the repairs don’t last long. I find myself wondering if it would have been cheaper to resurface the road instead of all the times the potholes have been filled in.”

After visiting Midway Road, Cllr Coppin said: “Cornwall Council blames the unprecedented rainfall as the cause of so many potholes. I would argue that the rain has merely identified the complete lack of care, maintenance and spend on our roads in Bodmin.

“I cannot remember the last time a road in Bodmin was completely resurfaced in at least the last 12 years? While it is great to see the council finally spending money on benches, signs and murals, I often hear the public say they really want their roads fixed.

“It was recently reported that Cornwall Council claims they repair the worst potholes within two days. Not in Bodmin they don’t! It has been between two and five weeks for ones I have reported. A serious one on Cooksland Road not been touched in two months according to a resident.

“The council say that the constant rain means they can only carry out cold fill tarmac repairs. However, they have managed to resurface huge sections on the camel trail.

“Old Midway Road looks more like a bomb site than a maintained carriageway. We hear so often at Bodmin Town Council meetings about various developments, and we were once promised a northern relief road if development reached a threshold which it has long passed and yet in a time where more houses are being built, our roads are merely being patched.”

Cornwall Council were contacted for comment.