THE number of potholes in York rose by nearly 1,000 last year, at the same time as council bosses slashed spending on road resurfacing.

In 2012/13, City of York Council identified 2,492 potholes, up from 1,566 the year before. Over the same period, the council cuts its resurfacing expense from £2.13 million to £1.57 million.

Keith Aspden, leader of the council's Liberal Democrats, said: “Labour have cut the budget for road maintenance every year and as a result potholes have increased every year.

“Whilst money has been found for city-centre vanity projects like King’s Square frontline services like road repairs have suffered.

“Unfortunately last month Labour rejected Lib Dem calls to put an extra £385,000 into fixing potholes every year.”

Ed Morrow, campaigns officer for road safety charity Brake, said: “It is important that road surfaces are kept in safe condition. Potholes can contribute to devastating crashes that end and ruin lives.

“Investing in safety-critical road repairs pays for itself in the long run, as it helps prevent the huge cost to society of a serious crash."

North Yorkshire County Council came under fire last week for failing to repair road damage which led to the death of a cyclist taking part in a charity ride in the county.

Martyn Uzzell, 51, from Somerset, was killed instantly after being thrown into the path of a vehicle after riding into one of the holes on the A65 Settle Bypass at Giggleswick in June 2011.

Andy Binner, the city council's head of highways, said the council checked roads every year in line with national guidelines and took the safety of all road users very seriously.

He added: “York has experienced some of the worst winter and wet weather conditions in 30-years which has seen an increase in the number of damaged footpaths and roads.

“The council takes every step necessary to ensure problem areas are indentified and repairs are carried out as quickly as possible so minimal delays occur.”

David Levene, cabinet member for environmental services, said Government figures showed York’s road network to be the best in the Yorkshire and one of the best in England.

He added: “When Labour was elected to lead the council we increased the road repair budget and the local Conservative-Liberal Democrat opposition voted against this.

“In the recent budget, we increased funding to roads and footpaths by £2.3 million."