Tensions rose in a Wiltshire Council meeting during a discussion over details of highway investment across the county’s area boards.

A report presented to the environment select committee revealed that South West Wiltshire has had just under £7m of maintenance work in the past five years, followed by the Royal Wootton Bassett and Cricklade area board, which saw £5.2m invested during the same period.

However, Lib Dem Cllr Richard Budden claimed the data was lacking in detail and requested to not be treated “like a fool”.

Wiltshire Council's highway maintenance data.Wiltshire Council's highway maintenance data. (Image: Wiltshire Council) Addressing those present on Tuesday, November 11, he brought up the “significant issue” of damage to C roads and unclassified roads across Wiltshire.

He argued that his request for the expenditure to be broken down between road types had not been fulfilled and suggested further information on projected expenditure was necessary.

Cabinet member for highways Cllr Nick Holder said he was “disappointed” by Cllr Budden’s statement and reminded him of the additional investment put forward by the Conservatives in the council’s budget.

He added: “Were it not for the financial prudence of this authority, we would not have additional budget to be spent.”

Cllr Budden said: “As a councillor, as a member of this committee, I believe I should be entitled to at least see the numbers upon which these charts are based, so that I can consider them, and form my own judgement, and not just accept your conclusions, because they’ve come from you, sir.”

When Cllr Holder maintained that the data was clear, Cllr Budden responded: “Don’t treat me like a fool.”

The councillors were instructed by the chairman to not engage further in the argument.

In a statement released after the meeting, Cllr Holder said: “Showing our highways investment by area board is a really useful exercise, as it illustrates where we spend our money and why – and of course this is based on many factors, such as the length of roads, type of roads, road usage and local geography and the results and analysis of our regular carriageway condition surveys.

“We have invested an extra £22m into Wiltshire highways – on top of the £20.7m we receive from the Government – and it is really making a difference on the county’s roads, with more resurfacing, more repairs and fewer potholes.

“For example, we are now using Bobcat machines that can remove and replace large areas of road in a matter of minutes, before moving straight on to the next job.

“We’ve spent £1.1m on this brilliant piece of kit since April across our 18 area boards – and this could not have been staffed and deployed without our extra investment.”