Villagers are forced to travel along "dangerous" downland roads because they have been starved of funds, claim motorists.

Drivers in the Wantage area claim lives are at risk because of years of under-investment by the Government and Oxfordshire County Council. Among the worst affected are roads to the west of the town, including the busy B4507 between Wantage and Ashbury which is pitted with potholes.

Retired businessman Tony Williams, 65, from Sparsholt, has spent about five years drawing attention to the problem. He said: "The state of the roads in south Oxfordshire is a scandal. I believe many local people share my concern over the safety and the standard of the road surface on the B4507."

"They are starving it - and maybe others, too - but they are getting away with it. I do not believe that the council and tax-paying members of the communities who daily use this road are getting a fair crack of the whip."

He added: "The roads are dangerous as there is no traffic calming. A-roads are getting all the money while B-roads are getting almost nothing."

The clerk of Kingston Lisle Parish Council, Brenda Lee, said: "There are parts of the road that are in a very poor condition and are worse than other roads. Some pot holes are so deep you have to slow down and go around them."

The Mayor of Wantage, Jenny Hannaby, said: "The roads have been neglected by governments of both parties and there have been years of lack of investment, which are now coming home to roost. We have got some bad roads around the town which have been patched up but don't last long. The county council is struggling under the pressure."

Oxfordshire County and Vale of White Horse District Councillor Jim Moley said: "People in Wantage are quite rightly concerned. There is no doubt that the roads across Oxfordshire are bad, arising from years of central Government underfunding."

The county council has poured £8m into highway maintenance as a result of budget increases and Government funding.

The council's assistant director of environmental services, Richard Dix, said: "We have lots of work to do and have started. We can slow down the rate at which roads are getting worse but it may take some time to make them better. However, people will start to notice an improvement."

He added: "The B4507 is perfectly acceptable as a rural B-road."