A mere 14 miles of Norfolk's council-run A roads were judged to be needing repairs over the past year, new statistics have revealed.

Road examinations, done by scanner machines, and in some cases human inspection, identify sections of road that are worn by use or may have ruts, bumps or potholes.

And councils have to notify the government about what percentage of their roads they deemed should be considered for maintenance.

Data from the Department for Transport showed that, following inspections in the 12 months to March 2017, Norfolk said 3pc of its 465 miles of A-roads in the county may need repairs over the following 12 months.

The data also showed that 8pc of the B and C roads were likely to be in need of repair, and 18pc of unclassified roads. In total there are 5,651 miles of minor roads in Norfolk.

The highway inspections use a classification called Road Condition Indicator. This categorises a road as green, amber or red, based on ruts and bumps.

If a part of a route is branded red it should be checked more thoroughly as it is likely to require maintenance.

The figures also showed road conditions were better than they were five years ago, when 4pc of Norfolk's A roads were likely in need of repairs.

The condition of unclassified roads also improved, as from April 2011 to March 2012 28pc of minor roads required repairs.

And a council spokeswoman said there had been no decline in the past 12 months.

She said: 'Whilst the survey data from 2017-18 is not yet completed, and has not been reported to our members or the Department for Transport/National Statistics, our results for the classified road network are in. They show condition has been no decline in condition from 2016-17.'

Treatments on 'red' roads typically require resurfacing whilst treatments on 'amber' tend to be surface dressing and patching.

The statistics only refer to Norfolk's local authority run roads. Highways England is in charge of the maintenance for major A roads such as the A11 and A47.

In Suffolk, the council inspections found 2pc - or 7.2 miles of the council's 359 roads might be in need of repair.