THE number of claims being made for damage caused by potholes is falling in County Durham.

More than £500,000 was paid out in compensation by Durham County Council in the five years between 2010 and 2014.

But the number of claims being made has dropped from a peak of 469 in 2013 to 78 for 2017.

Last year, just six claims were successful.

The authority put the drop down to the high performance of its highway inspection and maintenance regime and said it has one of the best rates for defending claims.

Mark Readman, Durham County Council’s highway services manager, said: “The number of claims and amounts paid out need to be considered in the context of us having one of the largest road networks of any local authority in the country.

“We strive to maintain this network in as safe a condition as possible and prioritise investment accordingly.

“Generally we have seen a reduction in both the number and amounts paid in recent years due to the continued high performance of our highway inspection and maintenance regime, which has helped us to have one of the best rates of councils across the country for defending claims.”

He added: “In years where we experience severe winter weather, such as 2011, we do see a spike in claims as snow and ice naturally lead to increased numbers of potholes.”

A freedom of information request found that since 2010, the most that was paid out in a single year was £255,038 in 2012.

That year, 388 claims were made, of which 20 were successful.

The highest number of claims came in 2013, with 469, of which 24 were successful.

The largest single payout was £65,584, paid to a successful claimant in 2012.

The average amount paid out dropped from £12,752 in 2012 to £1,539 in 2015.

Between 2010 and 2015 there were a total of 1,661 claims, of which 89 were successful, costing a total of £573,763.

The council is spending £17m on road repairs this year.

In April, it announced it was spending an extra £700,000 because of damage caused by severe winter weather, while it was also given £1.3m from a national “pothole” fund.

In 2017, a report on the state of County Durham’s 3,794km of roads, 490 road bridges and 83,027 street lights, found that eliminating the backlog over 30 years would require an annual budget of £32.8m.

The report also revealed the council’s accumulation of highways issues needing to be dealt with had reached more than £191m.

Funding is targeted on main roads, which has meant the condition of A, B and C roads has improved.