Potholes costing £1,000 a month in compensation

State of roads is a pricey business for councils

Councils across Tayside pay a combined £1,000 a month to motorists whose vehicles have been damaged driving over potholes.

Figures released under Freedom of Information have revealed that since 2012/12, Dundee City, Angus and Perth and Kinross councils have paid out £61,027.35 for repairs.

More than two-thirds of that money was paid by Perth and Kinross, which was hit with compensation claims totalling £34,398 in a single 12-month period.

Over the last five years Perth and Kinross Council had to pay £42,671.35.

A spokeswoman for Perth and Kinross Council said extraordinarily wet weather was to blame for the huge number of payouts in 2015/16.

She said: “Perth and Kinross suffered extreme wet weather conditions between December 2015 and January 2016.

“Due to the severity of the damage caused by the adverse conditions, the council received just under £1.8 million additional funding towards the repairs from the Scottish Government and Transport Scotland.

“The increased level of damage to the network resulted in an increased number of claims for loss.

“Although the council focused its resources on flood damage repair and actual road deterioration repairs, it was impossible to achieve the target repair timescales the council specifies and normally achieves.

“The council therefore had to pay out on more claims than would ordinarily be the case.”

Dundee City Council has paid out £14,613.51 for repairs since 2012/13 but has managed to slash its annual bill by almost 50%.

In 2012/13 the local authority had to pay out £4,399.60 but since 2015/16 has reduced its annual bill to less than £3,000.

Dundee has only paid out £812 for damage from potholes this year, although that total is likely to increase over the winter period.

The council’s total bill for repairs over the past five years is £14,613.51.

A report published earlier this year showed the number of potholes in Dundee was falling, while the number permanently fixed at the first time of asking was on the rise.

Depute city development convener councillor Mark Flynn said: “Increased investment in more first time permanent repairs and greater concentration on managing the road surface has created this positive trend that we are aiming to maintain in future years.”

Angus Council has had the lowest bill, paying out just £3,742.50 over the past five years.

Councils have paid out more than £61,000 in compensation for pothole damage in the last five years.