Dear Editor

Given that the A40 is a key commercial artery that helps underpin Herefordshire’s economy one would have though that the county council and Balfour Beatty, its maintenance contractor, would have strained every sinew to keep it in good repair.

Not so, alas. Riddled with cracks and potholes – see the accompanying photos -  the stretch that runs through the centre of the Lea is in an appalling state, more closely resembling a medieval cart track than an A road fit for 21st century traffic.

How anybody on two wheels can negotiate it with anything approaching safety is beyond us. How it meets any notion of a duty of care towards road users is a complete mystery.

We appreciate that the county council is under financial pressure and that central government funding for road improvements is meagre to say the least given the extent to which local highways have been allowed to deteriorate. But Lea’s sad and sorry section of the A40 is so battered and pitted that resurfacing it needs to be given top priority – today.

Stephen and Anne Banner, Lea