The roads in Bradford, as in the rest of Britain, leave a lot to be desired.

There are potholes everywhere, hammering shock absorbers and loosening exhausts. It's hardly surprising that the Council is facing a large raft of claims from road users who say they have come off worst in an encounter with a hole in the tarmac.

Britain's urban roads, which have to take a tremendous hammering from the growing volume of traffic, are in a neglected state. They have been made worse by the recent heavy rains. More money needs to be spent on them. The Government must realise that even though it is trying to shift motorists on to public transport, buses still need to use the roads. So do vans and lorries, and car owners whose needs, for various reasons, cannot be met by the public-transport network.

Failure to spend money on repairs is short-sighted. It will inevitably lead to more compensation claims against local authorities and more court time wasted.

The same applies to pavements. Many of those in central Bradford are in need of attention. It is annoying and embarrassing when rainwater shoots up from between loose flagstones and drenches your shoes and ankles but it is positively dangerous when edges or corners of those flagstones protrude above their neighbours, waiting to trip up unwary pedestrians.

Apart from the damage they can do to those whose falls they cause there is also the potential cost to the Council through damage claims. Far better, surely, to invest in putting them and the roads right and avoiding those claims.