Dudley Council pays out £22k to drivers for damage caused by potholes

Some 270 claims were lodged by drivers against the council between 2014 and 2016 over damage caused by crumbling roads.

It comes after it was announced the council would be given funding to fix potholes.

Almost 1,000 people complained in total about damaged roads over the two-year period. But opposition Conservative councillor Patrick Harley said the figures were the 'tip of the iceberg' and many more people have had their cars damaged.

He said: "The money paid is peanuts compared to the overall budget but it's still money the council has lost.

"But the money is the tip of the iceberg as there's no doubt even more people who have had their cars damaged and haven't bothered to claim compensation."

He added: "It's a real problem. When they first reduced the road budget four years ago we warned the council that the roads would suffer."

The authority has recently received confirmation of £238,000 of additional funding to repair the roads.

Dudley council's environmental boss, Councillor Hillary Bills, said the authority is working to deal with as many pothole issues as possible.

She said: "We have a robust system in place with inspection teams who identify road defects such as potholes, with the most severe cases highlighted for urgent attention.

"Clearly, we have to prioritise the most serious problems above others but we are working to deal with as many as we can.

"We also have a busy planned maintenance schedule in place including resurfacing to protect and repair borough roads wherever possible and have just received confirmation of £238,000 of additional funding to tackle potholes after our bid was submitted quickly by officers."

Last month it was revealed millions was going to be ploughed into fixing potholes by the Government. The West Midlands will receive £7.67 million overall, including £1.22m for the West Midlands Combined Authority and £1.58m for Staffordshire.

South Staffordshire MP and the Conservative chief whip Gavin Williamson then said: "The state of our roads is consistently raised with me by residents and remains a great source of frustration for drivers."