Is this Britain’s worst place for potholes? Drivers say they have suffered £1m of damage from cratered roads in last eight months – and council has only paid up £48,000 so far

• Devon drivers made 996 claims over pothole damage since April, totalling £1.1m

Drivers in Devon have submitted claims amounting to more than £1million for vehicle damage caused by potholes in just eight months, but the council has paid out less than five per cent of the claims.

A total of 966 vehicle damage claims have been submitted to Devon County Council since April this year with the value totalling £1.1million.

Although that is an average of £1,138 per claim, so far the council has only paid up around £48,000.

The figures were obtained by Councillor Frank Letch, who was seeking information on the number of potholes the county is dealing with.

Cllr Letch said the figures showed that 28,801 reports of potholes have been made by members of the public in this financial year alone, and that the council had identified 1,505 potholes for repair.

Fed-up locals protest over 5ft-wide crater dubbed ‘The Buckfast Chasm’ that has plagued a Devon road for four months in January 2020

Multiple reports from members of the public could relate to the same pothole, which partly explains the discrepancy between the reported figures and the repair work list.

READ MORE: Britain’s ‘BIGGEST’ pothole! Fed-up locals protest over 5ft-wide crater dubbed ‘The Buckfast Chasm’ that has plagued Devon road for four months

A significant number of claims was also made by drivers in the previous financial year, with 1,229 claims made for the whole year amounting to £855,000 worth of claims.

So far, just £35,000 has been paid out from those claims.

Not every claim will result in a pay-out.

For a claim against Devon County Council to be successful, drivers have to show that loss or damage was caused as a result of its negligence, meaning it is not automatically liable for damage caused to vehicles using roads it oversees.

On its website page about such claims, the authority states it has insurance, but ‘any successful claims under £250,000 have to be paid from our own funds which would otherwise go towards providing services’.

‘Devon County Council has a system of inspection in place that allows many of the insurance claims we receive to be defended,’ it adds.

The damage claim figures come shortly after Devon announced more than 65 road repair projects that it would prioritise with the £6.6 million in extra funding it has received from central government.

This pothole (pictured in 2020), located in Buckfastleigh, Devon is estimated to be a foot deep and over five feet wide, and is so big it has been dubbed the ‘local lido’

The money became available after the government scrapped the Manchester extension to the HS2 rail service.

Devon has the largest road network of any local authority, spanning around 8,000 miles.

Hilarious images showing the ‘biggest pothole in England’ emerged in January 2020 after disgruntled town councillors staged a protest over the pool-sized pit.

The pothole, located in Buckfastleigh, Devon is estimated to be a foot deep and over five feet wide, and is so big it has been dubbed the ‘local lido’.

The ‘Buckfast Chasm’ plagued locals since October 2019, but town councillors later decided to post the images to shame Devon County Council into action.

The photos show eight town councillors posing alongside the swimming-pool sized hole as a dog paddles happily through the centre.

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