Urgent action is needed to improve the state of Scotland’s roads, according to the public spending watchdog.

A report from Audit Scotland revealed just 63% of local council-maintained roads are in acceptable state, a proportion unchanged since 2011/12.

Although 13 local authorities increased spending on road maintenance, overall expenditure has fallen by 14%, from £302m in 2011/12 to £259m in 2014/15.

As a whole, councils spent £33m less on maintenance in 2014/15 than the amount considered necessary to maintain the current condition of local roads.

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Meanwhile, the state of Transport Scotland-maintained trunk roads declined over the same period, from 90% in an acceptable condition to 87%.

The report said the body spent £24m (38%) less on structural maintenance in 2014/15 than was necessary to maintain the current condition of trunk roads.

Poor road conditions were reported as a major concern of Scotland’s drivers, with more than half (57%) of road users complaining about the state of the country’s carriageways.

Over the five year period covered by the report, Audit Scotland estimated that poor or defective conditions may have contributed to six fatal, 64 serious and 234 slight road traffic accidents.

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Auditor general Caroline Gardner said: “A well-maintained roads network is vital for Scotland’s economic prosperity. We cannot afford to neglect it.

“What is needed is a longer term view which takes into account both the need for new roads and the proper maintenance of what we have at present.”

Council body Cosla said the findings should be seen as a success in the context of austerity and rising demand for services.

Councillor Stephen Hagan said: “The reality of the situation is that Scotland’s councils have done a good job with less resource in keeping the roads to a decent standard.

“It is clear that some councils, despite the financial challenges, have chosen to invest in road quality while others, for perfectly valid reasons, have chosen to spend scarce resource on other vital services.”

Opposition parties urged SNP ministers to act, highlighting that roads maintenance spending is higher in England, and renewing criticism of the most recent local government settlement.

Scottish Conservative MSP Alex Johnstone claimed there was an “anti-motorist agenda” in Scotland, saying: “Roads in Scotland are vital to the economy, and by not maintaining them properly the Scottish Government is inadvertently impacting business.”

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Labour MSP Neil Bibby also called for more government investment in Scottish roads.

He said: “Rather than give local councils the resources they need to maintain the condition of our roads, the SNP have instead chosen to cut over £1bn from local authorities since 2011.”

Mike Rumbles MSP, for the Liberal Democrats, said: “It is hard to escape the conclusion that the funding squeeze that has been imposed on local authorities will make it virtually impossible for councils to keep more roads in a fit state.”

The Greens said expenditure should be targeted away from building new roads and towards maintaining the existing network.

John Finnie MSP said: “With the tightening of local authority budgets, it’s understandable that many councils have struggled to keep up with road maintenance.

“That’s why Scottish Greens are fully supportive of expenditure being used to maintain our existing infrastructure rather than spending obscene sums on building new roads.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “Few people living in Scotland could fail to have noticed the significant investment currently being made in Scotland’s trunk road network – with major improvements set to reduce journey times and support economic growth.

“Since 2007, £6.5bn has been invested to help ensure it operates efficiently and in the last year, 378 lane-km of trunk road carriageways have been improved or strengthened.

“Audit Scotland recognises that the vast majority of the network, 87%, is in an acceptable condition. This has been reflected in our most recent customer survey, where the number of people satisfied with the condition of trunk roads has increased by 5% last year.

“The report also highlights that through the competitive procurement process we have generated efficiency savings of around £42m in the last three years from our trunk road operating contracts.”