Herefordshire has seen a sharp drop this year in the amount paid out to drivers for vehicle damage from road defects.

In the year to date, Herefordshire Council has received 75 claims of damage arising from potholes and other defects in the county’s roads, a freedom of information enquiry has revealed.

These have led to just four payouts totalling £700.66, or an average of £175.17 each.

This is in marked contrast to last year, during which the council received 108 claims, paying out on 10 of them to a value of £2,976.

The previous year, 2020, saw even higher figures of 22 successful claims against the council totalling £3,263.

Over the past four years, the council has only paid out on one in every 14 claims, the figures show.

Herefordshire Council is responsible for the county’s road network excluding trunk roads the A49, M50 and its continuation the A40, which are the responsibility of National Highways in England.

Local authorities are excused liability for vehicle damage where they can show a reasonable system of maintenance has been followed, and that they have not left untreated a previously known defect.

The council says it inspects the whole county network between monthly and annually depending on importance, and repairs abouyt 2,000 potholes each month.

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It said earlier this year: “Our approach to compensating vehicle owners for damage sustained has remained consistent: the council is not liable unless we have failed in the application of our highways maintenance plan.”

The news is perhaps surprising given the ongoing strain on the council finances owing to declining support from central Government.

The council’s cabinet member for transport John Harrington told fellow councillors earlier this month that according to Balfour Beattie, the county’s public realm contractor, “we are now approximately £350 million behind in returning our roads back to a condition considered ‘good’”.

The contractor had described its contract with the council as “managing a declining network”, he said.

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