COUNTY Hall has paid out more than £300 a day to motorists whose cars have been damaged by potholes.

The harsh winter saw Oxfordshire County Council hit with double the number of compensation claims.

And last night there were fears the county’s roads and the number of cases could worsen after the Government announced a 25 per cent cut in funding for highways maintenance.

Between January and October the council spent £86,805 settling 318 of the 964 compensation claims, according to figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Oxford Mail.

This year’s settlements are £31,000 more than was paid out in the previous two years put together and amount to the equivalent of £318 per day. The highest single pay-out it made was £2,179.

In January alone the council received 255 claims for damages, just seven less than were received in the whole of 2008.

Richard Clapham, a instructor for Access Driving in Oxford for 26 years, said: “In January and February the roads were a mess but the council has done an awful lot of work during the year resurfacing and repairing the road. My concern is that the roads will only get worse if they take money out (of the budget).”

Last year the council proposed cutting ‘non-essential’ highway repairs and maintenance to save cash.

However after the coldest winter in three decades the council is on course to spend £250,000 more on maintenance in 2010/11 taking it from £15.55m to £15.8m.

Malcolm Denton is angry after his £359 claim was turned down.

He struck a pothole and damaged the wheel of his Mini Clubman in Sheepstead Road, Marcham, in April.

Mr Denton’s claim was rejected as the council said it it not liable in highway law if it is not aware of the defect or could not reasonably have been expected to have carried out a repair.

Mr Denton, of King Avenue, Marcham, said: “I’m surprised they’ve paid out so much when they’re not paying out for what I believe is a fair and proper claim with a pothole that has opened up twice before.

“If we don’t invest more in our roads I think we’re backing up a huge amount of problems for the future.”

Sam Mitchell, who owns SJM Motor Repairs in Headington, said his firm saw three times as many broken coil springs in the first two months of the year.

He praised the council for tackling potholes quickly, but cautioned: “It all depends on the weather but if there is less money in the budget they won’t be out fixing them as quickly as they did this year.”

Council spokesman Owen Morton said no decision had been taken on the authority’s budget for road maintenance for next year.

He said: “The whole country experienced a rise in road defects following the harshest winter for 30 years and, as such, it is reasonable to expect a rise in the number of claims.

“The county council has continued with its policy to compensate only those claims for which it was found to be negligent based on highway law.”

  • The county council drafted in eight extra repair crews to deal with a 75 per cent surge in pot holes following the worst winter in three decades.

Damage to the county’s ice-ravaged roads saw the authority receive 5,300 reports of potholes – labelled “defects” – in the first 10 weeks of the year.

The number of potholes had increased by three-quarters compared to the 3,000 defects reported to the council in the first 10 weeks of 2009.

In the first three months of 2010 the council’s 20 repair crews fixed 3,100 potholes, a 56 per cent rise on the 1,980 potholes repaired over the same time period in 2009, when the council had 12 teams making repairs.

  • Oxfordshire County Council is the Highway Authority for the majority of roads in the county and has a duty of care to maintain the highway.

Motorists can attempt to claim compensation if they believe the council has failed in that duty and they have suffered personal injury or damage to their property as a result.

However highway law means the council is not negligent and does not have to pay out if the authority was not aware of the defect or could not reasonably have been expected to have carried out a repair.

In 2009 the council paid out £38,810 on 149 of the 412 compensation claims it received.

In 2008 the council paid out £18,248 and received just 268 claims.

In 2007 the authority spent £36,988 and received 360 claims.