UK roads slide in global satisfaction survey

THE UK has slipped yet further down a league table of roads quality, according to data released in the 2013-14 World Economic Forum report.

Having previously sat in an already meagre 24th place, the UK has fallen to 28th, equal to Namibia – and the Republic of Ireland.

The study, which is based on people’s perceptions of their own country’s infrastructure, highlights growing dissatisfaction among the British people regarding the state of the road network.

Among the countries that fared better than the UK are Taiwan, Malaysia and Chile, along with most of mainland Europe.

People answering the survey had to give a number between one and seven, rating the road network in their country for extensiveness and efficiency. The scores were then averaged, with a global mean of 4.0.

The only long-serving member of the EU to have performed worse than the UK was Italy, with a score of 4.4 to our 5.3. France was the best-placed European nation, with a 6.4 earning it second place overall.

Oil-rich Arab states did well, with the United Arab Emirates and Oman occupying first and third spots respectively. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain could only manage 17th and 24th, though.

Lowly Moldova came last in the study, with a shameful result of 1.7. New EU member Romania was little better, scoring 2.1.

Countries emerging as ‘average’ in the data included Pakistan, Hungary and Azerbaijan.

By Press Association reporter