Under-fire council warned of "roads emergency" from "dangerous" potholes — as cyclist claims £6,000 after breaking shoulder in crash; Even if you locked your bike a London thief may still steal... your handlebars?! + more on the live blog

We're starting the day's news in Staffordshire where members of the Stafford Borough Council have backed the formal declaration of a "roads emergency" in the county due to the "worryingly poor state of repair" of potholes. StokeonTrentLive reports that the declaration comes as one councillor presented the motion by pointing out cycling with his two daughters is "dangerous at the best of times" but has been made "very nerve-racking" by the state of the county's roads.

Green Party councillor Scott Spencer continued: "On his way to the station last year, my friend who lives in Stafford and commutes to Birmingham and cycles to the station hit a pothole and broke his shoulder. He then claimed against the county council and got £6,000.

"I ride a motorcycle and I also cycle with my two young girls. Both of these activities are dangerous at the best of times, but the conditions of our roads make it very nerve-racking as a parent. I'm even told by some residents that they fear driving, cycling or even walking and in some cases no longer opt to drive due to potential damage or injury to themselves or their vehicles."

> Remember when you knew where the potholes were? Nowadays, cycling on British roads is a constant, crater-ridden skirmish

However, in response, county council member Jeremy Pert blamed the weather for the issues and claimed the council had put "really impressive" funds and effort into fixing road defects.

He said: "We've just come through the wettest winter in the last 130 years and the problem with the weather wasn't that it was cold, but the dampness and rain fundamentally undermined the quality of the road network that we have not just within Stafford Borough but the county.

"To me it's not what you deal with, but it's how you respond to it. Back in May the county council put an extra £8m into fixing the county's roads; they currently put £42m into operational repairs and £83m into capital schemes. We've seen £5.6m spent across six schemes in Stafford Borough, including Radford Bank, Weeping Cross, Gaol Square and Newcastle Road in Cotes Heath. But the bit I think is really impressive is the 191 locations where over £5m has been spent doing patching and repair work."

He also suggested that "some of the motion is backwards" and "relates to something that has been a problem the county (council), which is the highways authority, has dealt with and done". Sounds like there'll be no problems with fixing potholes in Staffordshire this winter then...

Images for illustration purposes only and aren't Staffordshire potholes... these belong to some other lovely part of the UK road network...

Shimano confirmed to us overnight that the reports out of Japan are indeed correct and we can expect to see this tech hit the market next year. Read all about it here...

> Shimano's Q'Auto automatic shifting technology touted to launch in 2025, as cycling components giant admits it "can't break Bosch's hold on e-bikes"