MORE than 400 drivers in Lancashire made claims against the council for damage caused to their vehicle by potholes, new figures have revealed.

In the 2014/15 financial year Lancashire County Council paid out £35,958 in compensation to drivers, with 101 of 378 claims successful.

Blackburn with Darwen Council paid out £744, with six of 29 claims successful.

The figures are down dramatically from 2012/13, when the councils paid out a combined total of almost £95,000, but the number of successful claims has fallen from 51 per cent three years ago to 26 per cent in the latest figures.

Highways chiefs said the work they carried out to repair potholes was behind the reduction in payouts, but motoring organisation RAC Foundation suggested people were less willing to claim with councils making it difficult to do so.

Cllr Phil Riley, who is responsible for highways in Blackburn with Darwen, said: “I think the figures show how much work we have done in trying to repair potholes in Blackburn with Darwen.

“People will notice from travelling around the borough that there are a lot less potholes.

“I don’t think it is anything apart from the Network Recovery programme.

“We have put a lot of work in to making sure our roads are in good condition and these figures show that.”

Blackburn with Darwen Council put aside £17.5million for its Network Recovery programme.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “One reading of these figures could be local roads are in better condition than they were.

“But that does not square with councils’ own assessment that the road maintenance backlog is actually growing, not falling.

“It could instead be that many drivers are put off by the time involved in claiming against a council while councils themselves do their best to deter claimants coming forward.

“But 28,971 claims in one year is still huge – three an hour, every day of the year.”