Drivers claim £20m for pothole damage

Research from consumer body Which? has revealed that local councils last year paid road users more than £20 million in compensation for damage caused by potholes.

Councils in England and Wales paid a total of £22.8m in compensation, with councils in the north west of England paying out the most at £8m.

The research also found that the backlog of road repairs per local authority in England is getting bigger.

Since 2009, the backlog of pothole repairs has grown from £53.2m to £61.3m in 2012 on average per local authority in England.

It is estimated that it would cost £12.93 billion to clear the entire road maintenance backlog in the UK.

Richard Lloyd, Which? executive director, said: “Potholes are a menace for all road users. With temperatures plummeting this week and the bitter weather conditions set to continue, the backlog of repairs could grow again.

"Drivers should help themselves and everyone else on the road by pointing out potholes to the local council.”

Howard Robinson, chief executive of the Road Surface Treatments Association said: “It costs only £2 m2 to surface dress and maintain a road but costs £75 m2 repair potholes.

"Providing local authorities with the right level of funding in the first to place to enable them to properly maintain the road network would be more cost effective than emergency pothole funding.

"It would also save them the significant insurance cost resulting from compensation claims.”