COUNCILS in the region say that a national report detailing the cost of potholes to local authorities is not an accurate reflection of the reality.

Insurance firm Confused.com say that in County Durham last year there were 55,545 potholes reported, costing more than £4.7m to repair and £4,571 in compensation to motorists whose cars were damaged.

In North Yorkshire, which has a road network three times the size of County Durham, Confused.com says there were just 660 potholes reported in 2016, costing £109,556 to repair and £707 in compensation.

The figures are based on a Freedom of Information requests issued by Confused.com, but both North Yorkshire and Durham County Councils say they are inaccurate.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire County Council said: “The figures we gave in response to the Freedom of Information request from Confused.com are not the figures being quoted in the company’s press release.”

John Reed, Durham County Council’s head of technical services, said: “These figures are not accurate and therefore comparison of the figures between different areas is not meaningful.

“However, we acknowledge that potholes and the condition of local highways is of both national and local concern.

“We undertake regular safety inspections of all roads in the county and all potholes that meet our intervention levels are repaired.

“We’ve also increased our funding in recent years for the resurfacing of roads and footpaths despite unprecedented reductions in central government funding.

“This has led to improvements in the condition of our roads, which helps prevent potholes from forming.”

The FOI response from County Durham Council was sent to The Northern Echo and it shows that between April 2016 and the end of March 2017 there were 52,482 road defects reported.

The authority spent around £3.65m on repairs and paid out £2,345 in compensation to motorists whose cars were damaged by potholes or other road defects.

Figures supplied by Darlington Borough Council show it has spent £103,560 on repairing potholes in the current financial year and a total of £261,273 in the 2016/17 financial year.

In the last year Darlington Council has not paid out any compensation money to motorists and in 2016/17 it paid a total of £165.99.

According to Confused.com’s report, local authorities across the country spent £104 m on repairing potholes last year and awarded £3.1m in compensation for damaged vehicles.

The company also calculated that the UK’s potholes have a combined total depth of more than 24 miles - almost four times deeper than the Pacific Ocean.

Meanwhile, a survey of 2,000 motorists found that one in three have suffered damage to their vehicles due to poor road surfaces.

Martin Tett, the Local Government Association’s transport spokesman, said councils need adequate funding to fix the problem

He said: “Councils share the frustration of motorists having to drive on roads that are often inadequate and are doing the best they can in challenging circumstances.”