Shropshire Council compensates just three of 248 pothole claims

The period proved to be notoriously busy for council workers dealing with pothole reports and repairs compared to previous years.

In January, just one claim out of 94 received was compensated and in February, two out of a possible 74 were reimbursed.

This meant that all 58 claims in March, and 22 in April, were unsuccessful - totalling three successful claims out of 248 in four months.

The figures have been unearthed from a 2018 council report, and also show a bumper start to the year in relation to pothole enquiries.

Throughout the whole of 2018, about 8,000 potholes were reported and Shropshire Council conducted about 13,500 repairs.

There were 96 per cent more reports of potholes in the first four months of 2018 compared to the same period in the previous three years combined.

In total, there were 5,274 enquiries regarding potholes in January, February, March and April 2018.

This compares to 928 for the same period in 2017; 1,055 in 2016; and just 697 in 2015.

The report also highlights the cost and number of successful claims for vehicles damaged by potholes in 2017, 2016 and 2015.

The council paid out £11,052 over 10 claims in 2017; £7,889 over 22 claims in 2016; and £44,990 over 10 claims in 2015.

For the 2016/17 financial year, 91.37 per cent of claims were defended by the authority, with anything above 69 per cent considered to be high performing nationally.

Shropshire Council was contacted for comment.