North Yorkshire Council's £385k pothole compensation bill

Pothole compensation figures were discussed at a meeting of the Conservative-run executive in Northallerton on Tuesday

Potholes have cost a council £385,000 in insurance claims for damage to cars in one year.

North Yorkshire Council received 282 claims for damage caused by potholes during the past financial year.

However, it said the amount had fallen from the year before when £1.03m was spent on compensation.

Conservative councillor Keane Duncan said he was satisfied with the total amount paid out, which was the second lowest amount since 2012 - 2013.

North Yorkshire Council has one of the largest road networks in the country, with more than 5,600 miles (9,000km) of roads.

Motorists are able to claim compensation if they are able to prove that damage to a car was caused by a pothole on the council's roads.

Mr Duncan, the council's executive member for transport and highways, said: "In terms of dispelling the myth of millions of pounds being made out in compensation, the annual figure is around £375,000.

"For a highway network the size of ours, we're quite comfortable with that figure."

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, figures show there were 3,714 reports of potholes across North Yorkshire in 2022/23, the highest number since 2018/19.