Councillors are concerned at the level of spending allowed by the Scottish Executive on gritting and snow clearing as well as repairing and upgrading road and bridge structures and want the Executive to place more emphasis on road infrastructure.

As a first measure, the Council agreed to inject a further £500,000 into the Roads and Transport budget for the new financial year, which begins on 1 April, increasing the total to £20.7 million, a rise of £1.7 million.

Convener David Green said: "There is a very strong and a very clear message coming from our communities that insufficient monies are being dedicated to the care of our roads and to tackling adverse weather conditions.

"We now intend to enlist the support of our communities in pressing the Executive at every opportunity to give much higher priority to roads matters and allocated additional funds to local councils so we can provide the level of service that the public expects."