Staffordshire County Council fork out £120k in pothole compensation

Across the county a total of 11,256 potholes were reported in 2016-17.

And the deteriorating state of the county’s roads has taken a toll on the public purse, with the authority shelling out £117,238 in compensation payouts.

Hotspots include Five Ways Island in Heath Hayes, where £220,000 has been spent on resurfacing the road.

The figure dwarfs the amounts of compensation paid out in neighbouring authorities.

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Dudley Council paid £4,594 for damage caused by potholes, in Wolverhampton the figure was £5,781, and Sandwell Council paid out £4,247.

The figures were compiled by insurance website confused.com and come after it emerged that Staffordshire County Council had repaired 31,000 potholes over the same period.

Councillor Helen Fisher, cabinet support member for highways and transport, said: “Our highways team carries out regular inspections of all roads at regular periods depending upon their importance.

“When we find a defect in the road or have one reported to us we asses them and fix any dangerous defects within 24 hours.

“However roads do deteriorate and while we make every effort to make repairs as soon as possible, we can’t keep them all in a perfect condition.

“We sympathise with anyone whose vehicle is damaged and if they believe this has been caused by a pothole then they are entitled to make a claim for compensation.”

Last week the authority insisted it was making progress in its bid to repair a backlog of thousands of potholes following a £5 million investment to tackle the problem.