Pothole payouts to drivers cost councils £20m
Which? said councils in England and Wales paid a total of £22.8m to road users for pothole damage, with authorities in the north west of England paying out the most at £8m, according to figures from the Asphalt Industry Association.
The Government commissioned a Potholes Review in 2011 and allocated an extra £200m for local highway authorities, citing a “significant increase in the number of potholes on the already fragile local highway network”.
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Hide AdBut Which? found that the backlog of road repairs per local authority in England is getting bigger, growing from £53.2m in 2009 to £61.3m last year. Local authorities have estimated that it would cost £12.93bn to clear the entire road maintenance backlog in the UK.
Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: “Potholes are a menace for all road users.”