TWELVE motorists in Sandwell shared more than £8k compensation for damage caused by potholes between April 2017 and 2018.

The borough paid out £8,309 to 12 drivers for vehicle repairs as the local authority spent more than £2 million on maintaining over 500 miles of highways.

During 2018 the council filled in 3,051 potholes at an average cost of £53 each.

The cost of compensating motorists for vehicle damage rose by £3,573 on the previous year despite the number of claims failing from 17 to 12.

The level was revealed in a Freedom of Information request published by the council.

Commenting on the costs, Cllr David Hosell, cabinet member for highways and environment, said: “The condition of our road network is a top priority and we are responsible for 539 miles of highway.

“We aim to repair more serious potholes that pose an immediate risk to the public within two hours and others within five days. For the year 2017/18, we achieved 92 per cent compliance against these targets.

“In 2017/18, we spent £380,000 repairing potholes and our overall road maintenance budget was more than £2 million.

“In public satisfaction surveys, Sandwell is ranked first out of 12 councils in the West Midlands region for both the condition of our roads and the maintenance of them.

“We are proud of these high public satisfaction levels, which we believe show that we identify risks, respond to residents’ concerns and keep Sandwell on the move despite the funding challenges we face.

“Budgets are tight due to government cuts so it’s a significant challenge to maintain our roads in good order. Therefore, we assess highway defects and prioritise those that impact most on people using our roads when deciding which to repair first.”