Lincolnshire County Council paid out the most for pothole damage compensation claims made in the past year, according to FOI data.
In a Freedom of Information request sent by Britannia Rescue (part of LV) to 434 UK city, district, borough and county councils, only 1 in 4 councils responded to the survey.
Lincolnshire County Council topped the poll in how much was paid out per claim. Of the 146 council which responded, Lincolnshire paid out (or is expecting to pay out) £358,664.98 for 1,412 claims in 2012/13.
Compensation in Lincolnshire was paid out for pothole damage to cars, personal injury claims, damage from stone chippings due to recent resurface work and other road defects.
While this sum was the highest amount of pay out in the country, Surrey County Council had the highest amount of claims for potholes, with 2,249.
Lincolnshire County Council cares for 5,500 miles of road, the fourth longest in the country, costing about £64 per mile, and the average cost of a claim payout is £254.
Meanwhile, the worst roads for potholes are King Lane in Leeds, the B6273 South Moor Road/ Moor Lane in Barnsley, and Holly Lane in Banstead.
According to the data, councils have paid out £2.5 million to 32,600 compensation claims to motorists in 2012.13 due to pothole damage, with around 9% of motorists suffering car damage because of bad road surfaces.
Research also complied that the 200,000 known potholes in the country mean there is enough for one pothole per mile of road.
Reasons for the high amount of claims is due to a harsh winter followed by a dry summer causing damage to the roads.
In addition, there is not enough funding for road maintenance in the country — it is around £16 per driver spent on maintaining roads and pothole repair.
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Peter Horton, Britannia Rescue Managing Director, said: “Britain’s pothole epidemic has resulted from years of underinvestment in our roads and has been exacerbated by recent harsh winters.
“Local authorities face difficult choices in the roads they prioritise for repair and we now have around 200,000 potholes on UK roads.
“Motorists should protect themselves and their vehicles by reducing their speed on potholed roads, and also reporting damaged roads to their local council.”
‘Not the whole story’
Councillor Richard Davies, Executive Member for Highways at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “This list doesn’t quite tell the whole story because it fails to take account of the size of each council’s road network.
“We look after twice the number of roads than the 2nd council on the list, and have 27 times more miles of road than the 3rd.
“Of course we have a problem with potholes in Lincolnshire – the whole country does – but we are tackling it head-on. We’ve filled 50,000 potholes this year and next year we’ll do even more.
“These statistics underline the challenge faced by local authorities across Great Britain. We must keep investing in our road network, and we need central government to provide us with additional funding to allow us to do that.”
To report a problem with a Lincolnshire road or a pothole, contact County Council Customer Services Centre on 01522 782070 or fill in the form online.
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Plans to build new “modern” homes on land next to Lincoln’s iconic Strelizia home on Michaelgate will be approved next week.
City of Lincoln Council’s planning committee will be asked to give permission to John O’Donohue and Tom Gumbrell’s plans to build “unique, bespoke dwellings” on land to the rear of 10 Steep Hill on Wednesday.
The site currently includes two derelict, single-storey, brick garages which will be demolished as part of the build, while the rest of the site has been used by residents for parking.
Recommending approval, officers said: “The development of the two houses will change the appearance of this part of the City but the designs have been developed in such a way that it is considered that the change that would result would not be harmful to the area, to the heritage assets in the area and would not be unacceptable to the amenity of the neighbouring residents.”
The developers have described an initial building to the west of the site as “contemporary but using recognisable material” while another to the East will be “a more traditional form building intended to be viewed as a discrete subservient outbuilding building linked to 10 Steep Hill”.
Nearly 30 neighbours have commented on the plans, with objectors raising concerns over the appearance of the building and its impact on the historic area of Lincoln.
Plans showing how the elevations would look.
One said it was an “ugly square block”, while another said it would “blight the visual effect of what is one of the most attractive conservation areas in our City”.
However, the owner of the nearby Strelitzia – another modern building with a design unique to the area – David Lewis has supported the plans saying they will enhance the area.”
Those in support of the plans note the building is often used for anti-social behaviour.
One nearby resident said the garages on the site had “been an eyesore” for more than 30 years and that a new residence would “only enhance the area”
“Architecture representing centuries can be seen on Steep Hill and Michaelgate which makes the area attractive and fascinating to residents and visitors alike. It is good to see that the 21st century is also being represented,” they said.
Lincoln MP Karl McCartney has come under scrutiny for retweeting a post from a political group that champions fascism, which he has now removed.
Mr McCartney shared a tweet from New British Union West Midlands to his profile which criticised the media for their coverage of the petrol panic buying across the country.
The tweet was a screenshot from Whartons Shell Garage, which said that they are not short of fuel and it is in fact a case of everyone panicking by listening to the media, with NBU saying: “When a franchised fuel station really has to tell you to turn off your TV.”
Karl McCartney retweeted the NBU post on his page on Monday evening, but has since removed it.
The retweet from Lincoln’s MP has since been deleted from his timeline, after many pointed out what the New British Union stands for.
The NBU, formed in 2013, is a revival of Sir Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists, run by former Britain First and Scottish BNP leader Gary Raikes.
According to the NBU’s website, the group calls for “a new machine, a new nation and a new union” and demands that British people aren’t replaced by “a population that will destroy all our ancestors fought to uphold.”
Pictures on the NBU website show an alarming similarity to that of the Nazi Party, and leader Gary Raikes says on one of their pages: “A British child born at the start of the 21st century is likely to enter their years of retirement as a member of the British ethnic minority. The question is: what are you going to do about it?”
The NBU claims that Britain is in “demographic decline” due to “foreign immigration”. | Photo: New British Union website
The Lincolnite questioned Lincoln’s MP on this retweet, asking whether it was wise to broadcast the views of a political group as divisive and controversial as the New British Union.
In a statement of reply, Mr McCartney said: “Of course, I disagree wholeheartedly with what NBU West Midlands stand for. The post by Whartons Garage was what caught my notice. The retweet has since been deleted.”
McCartney came under intense scrutiny for his retweeting of the fascist group, with former Lincoln Labour MP Karen Lee calling it “unacceptable”.
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