COUNTY road chiefs have revealed there are an estimated 500 roads across Kent on new developments that have not yet been adopted.

Residents are often blighted by sub-standard roads that deteriorate as developers frequently delay meeting their legal requirements to complete road surfacing and install proper drains.

Kent County Council says it has a backlog of some 500 roads that have not yet been adopted, which means it is unable to assume responsibility for maintaining them.

There are concerns the significant increase in new homes being built across parts of Kent will mean residents waiting even longer for roads on new estates to be properly completed.

Cllr Richard King (Con), who represents Ashford, said he was dealing with rising numbers of complaints from constituents and has urged KCC to step up its efforts to remedy the situation.

He expressed concerns that developers building large estates often left residents who had bought properties in the early stages of a development in the lurch.

He said: "Many of my constituents in the new developments in Ashford have now lived for years on estates where roads are still unfinished and have therefore not been adopted by the county council."

Like other authorities, KCC normally negotiates voluntary agreements with developers setting out when roads should be completed to an acceptable standard. The council can only adopt them once that has happened.

Cllr Keith Ferrin (Con), KCC's cabinet member for highways, said KCC had "inherited a substantive backlog of adoptions from highways units" but said more staff had been assigned to deal with them.

Answering a question tabled by Cllr King at a full council meeting on Thursday, he said: "We are looking at ways with developers of improving the adoption process as we would normally expect them to be completed within three years."