The SNP’s pothole epidemic has left parts of Scotland looking ‘like a third world country’, it was claimed yesterday.

Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay said the dangerous state of many roads was ‘a monument to two decades of neglect and failure’ by the Nationalists.

But a National Pothole Action Fund would give councils funds to make long-lasting improvements. 

He said the Tory scheme would allow ‘kerb-to-kerb resurfacing’ of scarred roads instead of patch-up repairs.

Visiting a battered street in Scotstounhill, Glasgow, Mr Findlay said: ‘Sometimes this looks like a third-world country we’re in. Scotland’s pothole epidemic is a monument to two decades of neglect and failure by the SNP.

‘The state of our local roads is appalling and dangerous – and the buck stops with John Swinney, whose government has starved councils of the resources needed to repair them.

‘The Scottish Conservatives would fix this crisis by introducing a new National Pothole Action Fund that would give councils the money for kerb-to-kerb resurfacing and to buy state-of-the-art equipment to prevent the return of potholes.’

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar also promised a £350million pothole fund to fill 5 million holes when he launched his party’s manifesto yesterday.

Mr Findlay said the Tory changes would cut the money councils spent on compensation for motorists whose vehicles were damaged by potholes.

SNP candidate Calum Kerr said: ‘The SNP delivered record funding of £15.7billion for councils in the Scottish Budget to tackle issues such as potholes.’