Staffordshire pothole payouts bill hits £270,000

Between 2012/13 and 2015/16 a total of 3,715 claims were made against the authority – with some still not resolved after four years.

During the period the authority, responsible for highways maintenance in the county, paid out £273,265 to motorists who had suffered accidents due to the poorly treated roads. Speaking about the compensation figures, councillor Gordon Alcott said: "To me it is a disgrace that the council has had to spend this much public money on paying out for damaged caused by potholes.

"They know there is a huge problem but they don't seem to be bothered about fixing it or improving the situation.

"It will only get worse because this is money that isn't being spent on repairing the potholes.

"I am not blaming people for getting the compensation they deserve, but the council needs to look at preventing this damage because it is just wasting money. Some of the roads in Staffordshire are abysmal.

Efforts

"I know already that cyclists, HGV drivers and motorcyclists are having to swerve out of the way of some potholes and I just worry that it is a matter of time until someone is seriously injured."

Ian Parry, deputy leader at Staffordshire County Council and cabinet member for finance and corporate matters, said: "

We do have a huge road network here in Staffordshire, with around 6,000km of roads and our crews fix around 20,000 potholes every year. The vast majority of claims are made by Staffordshire people and ultimately this is an additional cost to the council and wider taxpayer.

"That will lead to the council paying out a whole lot more compensation and it just goes in a vicious circle from there.

In recent weeks, the Express & Star revealed that an astonishing 38 reports of potholes on just one roundabout in Cannock Chase were made to Staffordshire County Council. Residents have made the complaints about Five Ways Island in Heath Hayes, one of the many pothole hotspots in the area.

In January, a campaign called Pothole Patrol was launched by Cannock Chase MP Amanda Milling for the third-year running, calling on residents to report pothole problems directly to her before she then raises them with Staffordshire County Council.

In December 2016, the Government pledged £2.4 million towards pothole repairs. Staffordshire County Council will get £1.6 million out of that.