Scottish councils pay out £1.7m for pothole damage

Local authorities across Scotland have had to pay out £1.7m to motorist in compensation for damage cause by potholes.

The Scottish Conservatives uncovered the soaring tax payers bill after a Freedom of Information request for payouts over the last five years.

It was prompted by an AA study which threw the spotlight on Scotland for suffering a higher number of potholes per mile than the rest of the UK.

After two severe winters the Scottish government last January unveiled an extra £15m for local councils to cover the impact of winter conditions on the country's roads.

But the latest data suggest compensation claims are soaring.

Glasgow City Council was hit with the biggest bill for vehicle repairs at £355,530 over five years. The annual payout in the city skyrocketed from £20,000 in 2007 to £197,000 last year.

Scottish Tories' deputy leader, Jackson Carlaw MSP, said: "This is an astonishing level of compensation paid out by local authorities in Scotland to motorists and the £2m bill is just the tip of the iceberg, as there will be many motorists who won't have claimed for damage from their local authorities.

"Furthermore the compensation bill is only part of the cost of dealing with the claims as councils will spend vast sums of time and money dealing with each individual claim.

"The shocking state of our roads is a reality that every motorist and councillor knows only too well and that is why we proposed a Road Maintenance Fund in the recent Scottish elections to help fix the problem."

A spokeswoman for Transport Scotland said: "Our routine and winter budget for next year is £68.5m - an 11% increase on the previous year, which will help improve winter maintenance of the network."