Almost 200 drivers who claim their cars were damaged by potholes on Oxfordshire's roads have demanded compensation.

The county council, which is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of roads, has received claims totalling nearly £50,000 from 194 drivers in the past 12 months.

The authority has settled 58 of the claims with payments totalling £12,450.

But the figures - more than one claim every other day - come as research by insurance firm Warranty Direct found potholes were the cause of as many as 20 per cent of car breakdowns in some parts of the UK. The company discovered Scotland was the area with the poorest road conditions.

Meanwhile, the Asphalt Industry Alliance has claimed engineers were simply patching up' roads and that there is a 10-year, £1.6bn maintenance backlog nationally.

Brian Fell, Oxfordshire County Council's assistant head of transport, said: "We have no idea how these national figures have been arrived at.

"In common with all councils we have an inspection regime that tries to repair severe potholes within 24 hours.

"There is no reason to suppose that Oxfordshire has any greater or lesser problem than anywhere else in the country.

"During the past 12 months we have received 194 claims for damage due to potholes, valued at approximately £50,000.

"However, we have only paid 58 claims (29 per cent) at a cost of £12,455."

A spokesman for the AA said drivers were more likely to sue because cars were increasingly expensive to fix. He said: "We are in a more litigious society at one end of the scale, but at the other, cars are infinitely more sophisticated things and are harder to put right.

"More and more people choose to have things like alloy wheels, which are easier to break and more expensive to fix."

Councils were also in a difficult position, he said, adding: "Many local authorities find that, to pay the claims, they end up spending the money that they would spend on fixing the potholes.

"If you have four or five people damage their cars in a pothole, it costs more than it would have to fix the pothole in the first place."

Earlier this year, James Huntzinge, of Church Path, Stanford-in-the-Vale, near Wantage, hit a pothole that broke the side wall of a front tyre.

He said: "We encounter here the sort of road surfaces one would expect to find in Bosnia.

"This, in a country that manages to burden people with road tax, petrol tax, car insurance, council tax, income tax and VAT - people who hope and trust they'll some day, somehow, start getting their money's worth rather than excuses."

In August, Oxford city councillor Paul Sargent was so appalled at the state of St Thomas and Paradise streets he lobbied the county council to do something.

County councillor David Robertson, the cabinet member for transport, has earmarked £100,000 for repairs, although potholes still remain.

Mr Sargent said: "The money has been earmarked for St Thomas and Paradise streets, where there are huge great potholes and the road surface has been destroyed.

"Once I showed him (Mr Robertson) around, he went back and found money was available."