ALMOST £235,000 has been paid out following 83 pothole-related claims where the council accepted liability since 2010.

A Freedom of Information request by the Warrington Guardian has revealed 934 claims have been made against the council for pothole-related incidents since 2010.

The authority has been found liable for 83 and not liable for 813, while 38 remain ‘open’ and are yet to be settled.

The council has paid £55,586, while its insurers have paid £34,482, directly to claimants.

And the authority has paid £14,731, and its insurers £129,517, to the solicitors of claimants where liability was accepted.

Therefore, £234,316 has been paid to claimants and solicitors overall.

A council spokesman said: “In some cases, compensation is paid to solicitors in a single transaction which also includes the solicitors’ fees.

“The solicitors are then responsible for passing the compensation element of this payment to the claimant.

“Due to the way in which payment transactions are recorded, we are unable to provide a breakdown of these totals.

“However, we can confirm that, since 2010, the council has made payments totalling £14,731 and our insurers have paid £129,517 to the solicitors of claimants, for the 83 pothole-related claims where the council has accepted liability.”

The amount paid out for a claim varies from case to case.

The spokesman added: “Under the Limitations Act 1980, claimants generally have three years from the point at which they become aware of a loss to make a claim, although there are exceptions to this.

"Every claim made against the council is thoroughly investigated to confirm whether or not the council is liable for the loss being claimed for.

"We pay a very small proportion of the total claims that are made – either because the claimant is unable to prove that the council is liable for their loss or because the claimant is unable to prove that they have suffered a loss."