WILTSHIRE is home to dozens of substandard bridges that are unable to carry the heaviest vehicles on our roads, new figures show.

That's according to an analysis by motoring research charity the RAC Foundation, which has revealed more than 3,000 council-owned bridges across Britain have been damaged, deteriorated, or are otherwise in need of rapair.

The organisation says authorities desperately need more money to ensure the road infrastructure remains operational – especially in the face of more frequent extreme weather events.

Of the 974 bridges owned by the local authority in Wiltshire, 40 are not up to scratch.

Some may be substandard because they were built to earlier design standards, while others may have deteriorated through age and use.

The council says it wants to bring 38 of its bridges back to full carrying capacity – but due to budget constraints only expects to be able to carry out the necessary work on 19 of them within the next five years.

Across Britain, 3,061 bridges were found wanting, although this has fallen by 4.2% compared to a year ago.

Many of these structures are subject to weight restrictions, while others are under programmes of increased monitoring or even managed decline.

The analysis is based on figures provided by 203 of the country's 210 local highway authorities, which manage 71,505 bridges between them.

It was carried out in partnership with Adept, a group representing local authority bosses responsible for transport and other sectors.

RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding described the conditions of road bridges as a "canary-in-a-coal-mine indicator for the health of the highway network as a whole".

He said: "While our survey shows a marginal year-on-year improvement, it still reveals that, while the number of structures highway authorities expect to bring up to standard in the next five years is in the hundreds, the number they'd like to restore to manage traffic demand is in the thousands.

"And, as recent storms have demonstrated, our road infrastructure – including bridges – is under attack not just from the ever-growing volume of traffic but from the elements.

"Highway authorities desperately need the money and the engineering expertise to monitor and ensure our highways – our most valuable publicly-owned asset – are properly maintained and kept open for business."

Kevin Dentith, who chairs the Adept national bridges group, said: "Alongside the misery recent rain and flooding has brought to householders and businesses, many highway authority bridge owners will be fearful of what they find when the waters recede.

"The vast volumes of water – and the debris they carry with them – will have pummelled our road bridges, some of which are already in a fragile state.

"With every sign suggesting that these extreme weather events will become more common, it is inevitable that more money will be needed to keep our bridge stock open for traffic, and hence our towns and cities open for business."

A Department for Transport spokeswoman said councils were responsible for maintaining their own roads, and allocating government funding accordingly.

She added: “We’re spending more than ever on maintaining and improving our roads, and we’ve announced over £93 million to help local highway authorities do just that – including bridges.

“This is part of over £6.6 billion awarded between 2015 and 2021 to improve the condition of local roads.”