ROAD conditions in Tadley have been described by motorists like “driving through the Outback.”

Following the Beast from the East back in March, road surfaces across Hampshire suffered due to the cold snap, leading to numerous roads having potholes emerge.

As previously reported in The Gazette, Hampshire County Council was granted an extra £3 million from central government to tackle potholes across the county.

However, motorists in Tadley believe they have been forgotten.

One resident, who didn’t wish to be named, told The Gazette: “It is really treacherous driving around the town at the moment.

“Even the main A340 has some really bad faults which could cause some real damage to people’s vehicles.

“I just got back from Portugal and some of their country roads are in a better condition than what is meant to be a main road in Tadley.”

He added: “I was in Sherborne St John the other day and there were four workmen re-tarmacking a pavement, which really isn’t a priority when roads are like driving through the Outback.”

With a number of the large potholes in and around Basingstoke town centre being filled in by the county council, Tadley residents believe the highways authority has not bothered with them.

However, the county council said due to the significant deterioration of the A340, more extensive work is needed to repair the road than making short term repairs.

Councillor Rob Humby, executive member for environment and transport at Hampshire County Council said: “The damage inflicted on Hampshire’s roads by snow and ice was considerable. With a multi-million pound repair bill on our hands, we’ve mobilised extra gangs to go out immediately to make interim repairs but there are some roads, such as the A340 in Tadley, which deteriorated significantly during the cold spell, and will need larger scale works.

“We have scheduled a scheme on the A340 in Tadley from the county boundary to the junction at Blake Road for July, which is likely to take a number of nights to complete. As soon as we have details confirmed, we will be writing to local residents to let them know of the planned improvement scheme.”