£350,000 council compensation bill for Staffordshire pothole problem

New figures show Staffordshire County Council shelled out a whopping £347,389.60 between 2012 and 2016 to drivers whose cars were damaged because of the pothole problem plaguing the county's roads.

The figures also reveal the most troublesome roads around the county, including Junction 11 of the M6, Enville Common Road in South Staffordshire, Keepers Lane in Cosdall and Burnhill Green Road near Pattingham.

The single highest payout for a driver came in 2014 when one motorist received £4,621.65 after his car was damaged by a pothole at the junction of Somerset Road and Kent Road in Stafford.

Another mammoth payout came in 2015 when one driver received £3,574.98 in compensation after their car was badly damaged on Langley Road on the outskirts of Wolverhampton.

Drivers on Burnhill Green Road were among the highest beneficiaries of the council's compensation claims in the county, with drivers receiving £6,116.68 in just four years. The highest payout was £1,916.78.

Drivers in Keepers Lane in Codsall were not too far behind as they received £5,509.34, with a highest payout of £2,665.

A spokesman for Sankey Farms, which is located just off Burnhill Green Road, said: "There has been a very bad hole on the route for several weeks now.

"The pothole problem has got considerably worse in the last 12 months. When they fill in these holes it does not last more than a few weeks. They are not doing a good enough job."

In Cannock, motorists were paid £3,367.20 in compensation because of potholes on the M6 junction 11 roundabout.

Cannock Chase councillor Gordon Alcott, who previously claimed there must be a pothole on every road in the district, said: "If you come from the direction of Cannock there is two islands.

"The one before for the toll road has got a series of craters, that is how bad they are.

"Then the island for junction 11 itself has potholes all the way around it. Motorists are having to try and weave their way around them."

In total 3,985 successful and unsuccessful compensation claims due to potholes were submitted to Staffordshire County Council between 2012 and 2016.

James Bailey, the head of highways at the council, said: "We know that potholes are a concern to people and our highways crews make every effort to fix them as soon as possible.

"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.

"Our insurers and legal team are committed to ensuring claimants only receive insurance payouts when appropriate, ultimately this is an additional cost to the council and wider taxpayer."