DRIVERS claimed more than £130,000 in compensation after they were affected by potholes on Bracknell roads.

From 1998-2015 potholes in the borough caused a total of £132,480.85 worth of damage.

The highest payout came in the 2006/2007 financial year when Bracknell Forest Council paid £26,363.66 in compensation, and the following year saw the authority pay out a further £18,331.88.

But in 2008/2009, the council didn’t pay any compensation to drivers.

Anthony Radford-Foley, Head of Highway asset management at BFC said: “Our most recent claims analysis for the period 2014 – 2018 shows we settled an average of only three per cent of the claims made against us for damage due to poor road conditions.

“Each year we carry out maintenance programmes to resurface selected roads and we have made significant improvements to the overall condition of our A, B and C classified roads since 2005 when reports began.

“We receive funding from the Department of Transport for annual maintenance works which we have to use to maintain our structures and other highway assets, so we have to prioritise areas of the greatest need.”

These figures come after it was announced in 2016 that Bracknell Forest Council was ranked 116th out of the 207 local authorities in England for the number of claims made.

Figures from the RAC foundation showed that just one of the 27 claims made against the authority was successful, resulting in a payout of £1,150 to the affected driver.

But pothole activist Mark Morrell said it is not just drivers who suffer from poor quality roads.

He claimed: “If you look nationally over the last ten years there has been 400 cyclists injured by potholes - 22 deaths and 378 seriously injured.

“There is also a human cost to these potholes.

“Local authorities only pay out as a result of not meeting their own policies for repairs.”

Neighbouring authority Wokingham Borough Council paid out £265,000 more in compensation for the same 17-year period.