One of the two co-founders of Caithness Roads Recovery has called on Highland Council to "take our issues seriously" after announcing that she is stepping down from the campaign group.

Helen Campbell says she is no longer able to devote the amount of time that she feels is required, while praising her fellow campaigner Iain Gregory for "his absolute passion and commitment".

Mrs Campbell says the battle for funding to repair potholes and other damage "continues to be an uphill struggle" but she maintains investment can be secured with the right level of campaigning.

In a social media post this week, Mrs Campbell wrote: "In January this year, I asked Iain to join me in starting the Caithness Roads Recovery campaign with the key mission of highlighting the appalling state of our roads and the need for urgent funding to recover them.

"We have had some journey since going live with the campaign in February and we have amassed a large following in the UK – with some followers overseas too. We are astounded by this following and can’t thank you enough for all of your support."

Mrs Campbell admitted she had never campaigned before and had found herself on a "completely new but very rewarding learning curve".

She continued: "I have had the opportunity to meet so many lovely people during this campaign, and also listened to many frustrating, and often upsetting, stories from locals about how the appalling road conditions are affecting them – physically, mentally and financially. I want to thank those people for being so open and willing to share their stories with us.

"To date, our campaign has had great success at highlighting the road conditions. However, getting recognition from those who provide funding to fully recover our roads continues to be an uphill struggle. And from a meeting we had [on Monday] with a member of Highland Council, their funding is set to be cut even further, which does not help our situation."

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She said she had taken the opportunity to ask the local authority to "please take our issues seriously and provide the passion, the resource and the commitment" to campaign for appropriate funds from the Scottish Government. She said the roads needed to be safe and robust enough to support the regeneration of the county with the rundown of Dounreay, adding: "There is certainly funding out there to be tapped into with the right level of campaigning."

Mrs Campbell went on: "We continue to run a very proactive and professional campaign, and to maintain this momentum continues to require a lot of personal time and commitment. Unfortunately, I am no longer able to commit the amount of time required to continue the campaign in the way that I would like to, so it is with a very heavy heart that I have decided to step down.

"However, I am more than pleased at how far the campaign has come and, once again, thank you all for your tremendous support. I also want to thank Iain for his absolute passion and commitment in helping to develop our campaign – I have really enjoyed working with him throughout.

"We both have a range of different skills that have complemented the campaign very well – and our ability to work well as a team has been the foundation that has helped to develop such a positive and professional campaign. I will certainly miss the camaraderie."

Mrs Campbell pointed out that as she was involved in raising a formal complaint against the council with the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, she will "remain on board with that where required".

She added: "I wish Iain the very best in continuing this campaign."

Mr Gregory said: "It has been a real pleasure to work with Helen on the Caithness Roads Recovery campaign. Her technical skills, her enthusiasm and her passion for the cause have been an inspiration.

"I am very aware of the huge workload she also has to cope with, apart from Caithness Roads Recovery, and I have known for a while that she was intending to step down. She was determined to continue until we reached the level which we have now achieved, and I can honestly say that we would not have got as far as we have without her.

"Caithness Roads Recovery will continue to campaign, to highlight the issues, to hold government and local authorities to account, and to work closely with sister organisations such as Caithness Health Action Team.

"I will run the campaign personally and, with the huge support of the Caithness public, I have no doubt that we will achieve our ultimate aims. And when we do, a massive amount of the credit will be down to Helen.

"At this time, I do not intend to seek any further volunteers – we have considerable support from numerous highly competent people, and we operate as 'Team Caithness'. Should the need arise, I will look for someone to carry some of the workload but meantime I will simply carry on as normal."

Related stories:

• Roads and healthcare campaign groups to work together on issues that 'affect everyone in Caithness'

• Caithness roads could be fixed with 'a comparatively small sum', campaigners insist

• Caithness group lodges formal complaint against council for 'failing in its duty to maintain roads'

• Caithness campaigners get response from council chief over formal complaint about 'shocking' roads

• New warning about Caithness roads as cyclist sustains potentially life-changing injuries after hitting pothole

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