Research carried out by YouGov for the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) has discovered that badly maintained local roads are costing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) £5 billion a year in wasted staff time, production delays, increased fuel consumption and vehicle damage repairs. 60% of survey respondents said the condition of local roads had deteriorated over the last five years, and over half said the condition had worsened over the past year. The broad consensus was that the best-maintained roads in Europe are in Germany, with France a distant second and British roads barely getting a mention.

The survey can be viewed in full here