A survey of West Berkshire’s £9m transport budget found little being done to tackle imminent gridlock in Newbury, that budgets had not been spent in recent years, and that the council had little idea if improvements actually worked.

Inspectors gave our traffic systems, road networks and council officials the once-over earlier this month, awarding the council one out of three for its transport services.

West Berkshire was praised for helping cut road accidents, improving the road surfaces of major roads, and for extracting cash from developers for road enhancements.

But inspectors were not impressed with cracked pavements, crumbling roads, progress on cutting MPVs on the school run, or addressing the free parking for the council’s own staff.

The report also found:

87% of West Berkshire homes own at least one car.

Trains through Newbury are almost full at peak periods and rising.

Car traffic is rising at 3% a year, locally, with lorry traffic up 2%.

The budget is meant to cover 750 miles of road, nearly 1,000 bridges and ditches, and 11,000 streetlights.

Taxpayers’ money subsidises 73% of bus operating costs.

Cycling rates are up 26% in two years, but still below the national average.

The inspectors said: “The council has not analysed the impact of its actions on the overall outcomes that it was seeking to achieve. Areas where planned spends have not been achieved on individual schemes over the last two years within the intended financial year include cycling, public transport, safer routes to schools and school travel projects. As a result, the council has made limited progress in these areas.”

The council will now have to demonstrate big improvements before its next inspection.