Pendle MP, Gordon Prentice, is pressing the Government to grasp the nettle of "unadopted" roads. These are highways which are the responsibility of the people whose houses are alongside – rather than the local authority.

Quizzing Transport Minister Paul Clark, the MP claimed there were thousands of miles of unadopted roads in Lancashire where private individuals were responsible for the upkeep, not just of the surface but sewers and water pipes below.

The Minister told MPs it was up to local authorities to decide their own priorities but that money was available to allow more adoptions.

Speaking after the exchange, Prentice said: "There are back streets all over Pendle that have to bear the weight of heavy vehicles such as Council refuse trucks and it is unfair that the costs of maintenance falls on the householders and not the local authority."

"I appreciate it is a huge problem that has existed for decades."

"I would like to see a ring fenced grant to Councils which would allow them to progressively adopt a certain number of roads every year."

"Deciding which highways should be adopted in any given year would be up to the Councillors themselves."