With reference to your story about potholes (Oxford Mail, October 19), it is important to point out that Oxfordshire is bucking the national trends.

Our number of damage claims is on the decline while those in other areas rise, and we have a good record of defending ourselves against claims.

Although we received claims worth around £50,000 between October last year and this year, we paid out only £12,400.

Potholes are an unavoidable fact of life, brought about by the consistent underfunding of our national highway network and something that every council in the land has to deal with.

In common with all councils, we have a routine statutory inspection regime aimed at identifying highway and footway defects. We also act on defect reports sent to us by members of the public.

Our aim is to deal with emergencies within two hours, to repair the more urgent defects within 24 hours and to repair less urgent defects within 28 days.

On top of this, we have an annual road repairs programme and many of the planned roadworks around the county are aimed at repairing worn-out roads. We do our best with the resources we have at our disposal.

BRIAN FELL Assistant Head of Transport Oxfordshire County Council