MOTORISTS whose cars were damaged by Ox-fordshire’s pothole-strewn roads face long delays to get compensation after a surge in claims.

After this year’s harsh winter, the council has received 810 payout claims in the first five months of the year, compared with 248 in the same period last year.

County Hall usually process 95 per cent of such claims within eight weeks, but the deluge means the authority cannot say how long drivers may have to wait for a decision.

Malcolm Denton was infuriated when the council told him he would have to wait three months and “possibly longer” to hear the outcome of his claim.

He had to pay £359 for a new wheel and tyre for his Mini Clubman after striking a pothole in Sheepstead Road, Marcham, on April 27.

Mr Denton, of King Avenue, Marcham, said: “My main concern isn’t the pothole itself, because they’re inevitable after a winter like that. It’s how long it takes to sort it out afterwards which I think is unreasonable.

“We have to pay the money to repair something which wasn’t our fault and it’s unreasonable it should take that long to let us know whether the claim will be settled or not.”

The total value of compensation claims for pothole damage made to the council since January is about £250,000.

However, the council said only a portion of these claims would be paid in the end.

So far, 137 of this year’s claims have settled, at a cost of £37,133, with 363 still outstanding and 310 rejected. The average payment was £271.

The pothole Mr Denton struck was filled in two days after he reported it. However he is frustrated that workmen did not repair a smaller pothole nearby. He said: “It’s a false economy if you’re out there but you don’t fix all the potholes in that area.”

The chairman of the Oxford group of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, Mark McArthur-Christie, has made a £300 compensation claim after a wheel on his car was damaged near Carterton.

He said: “The county council has been snowed under by claims and it’s only right they investigate them, so they only pay out for genuine claims.”

Council spokesman Owen Morton said: “We’re doing our best to process claims as quickly as possible.

“Highways authorities up and down the country have all experienced a rise in claims this year and Oxfordshire is no different in this respect.

“Ideally, lesser potholes will be repaired at the same time as more serious neighbouring defects but this isn’t always possible, as repair teams may be called to attend a more urgent repair elsewhere.”

The number of potholes reported was up from 5,350 in the first five months of last year to 9,100 this year.