HIGHWAYS bosses in Bolton have paid out more than £20,500 to motorists whose cars were left damaged by potholes.

A total of 77 drivers were successful in claiming the pay outs for damage caused to their vehicles due to the condition of the roads in 2013/14.

The number of claims made placed the town 76th in the country in rankings compiled by motoring organisation the RAC.

The figures are down on the previous year, 2012/2013. Then, a total of 76 claims were made and 57 drivers received compensation totalling £24,092.90

Cllr David Chadwick, Bolton Council’s cabinet member for transport, said the council was quick to repair potholes to help cut down the numbers of claims.

He said : "Our policy is to log potholes when they are reported to us and we have inspectors who go out to see if they need repairing immediately .

"We believe we have a robust system in place to refute a number of claims, which we have to do.

"With the weather we had last week, it can made the pothole a lot worse but our staff are doing a good job. "

Cllr Chadwick added that the Government needed to increase the £16 million funding to help repair the roads.

He said: "The Government have assessed that a pothole in Bolton costs £35 to repair, which is nowhere near enough. The £16 million we have been given is over five years, and is not just for potholes but for road bridges and other works.

"It is less money than we received last year and the Government is not being realistic."

Cllr Chadwick asked members of the public to report potholes to streetcar@bolton.gov.uk

Nationally 50,000 drivers made claims against councils across Great Britain for damage caused to their vehicles by potholes in the last financial year.

The 200 local highways authorities in England, Scotland and Wales who responded to the Freedom of Information Request dealt with 48,664 compensation claims in the 2013/14 financial year.

However councils refused the majority of claims, agreeing to pay out in less than a quarter of cases. The total value of successful claims was £3.2 million.

The average payout for a successful claim in 2013/14 was £286, down from £357 the year before.

The average administration cost of each claim — successful or not — was £147.