Pothole payouts top repair bills

There are an estimated 3.5 million potholes in England and Wales

Councils in England and Wales are paying out more in compensation claims relating to potholes than they spend on repairing them, research suggests.

The Local Government Association (LGA) says legal cases - driven by no-win, no fee lawyers - have led to compensation payouts of £53m and £12m in case costs.

But the figures, taken from an Asphalt Industry Alliance survey of councils, show just £52.3m was spent on repairs.

The Law Society denied Britain was plagued by a "compensation culture".

But LGA spokesman David Sparks called for the law to be tightened in respect of no-win, no-fee cases.

He said: "These figures show the extent to which our efforts are being hampered by the compensation culture that exists nowadays.

"Since no-win, no-fee was introduced, almost all councils have seen an increase in compensation claims.

'Spurious claims'

"Of course, where people have a legitimate claim, they're entitled to compensation, but there's a real fear that no-win, no-fee lawyers are clogging up the system with spurious claims from people just chancing their arm."

The LGA, which represents more than 400 councils in England and Wales, says the £53m could have paid for repairs to an extra 946,429 of the estimated 3.5 million holes in roads.

Around 64% of local authorities provided data for the survey during 2007 and the LGA said the figures showed staff spent 40,801 days dealing with the claims.

Figures released in March suggested councils in Scotland had paid out £2m in compensation due to claims over road defects in the previous five years.

Valid grounds

The Law Society says solicitors are bound by rules which mean they can only pursue cases which have a "reasonable chance" of success.

Its president, Paul Marsh, said perceptions about compensation culture were incorrect and that Britain spent less on payouts than any other industrialised country.

“People have to exercise common sense about the risks inherent in day-to-day life," he said.

"But it is a fundamental principle that people should be able to obtain compensation when they suffer genuine injury because of the wrongdoing or negligence of others."