Over 1,000 potholes hit Midlands motorways

In total 106 compensation claims were made over damaged vehicles on the M54, M6 and the M5 in our region.

But only around one in 10 claims were successful, with just 11 payouts totalling £3,428 after the claims were investigated.

Highways England today said the "sheer volume" of traffic causes potholes which forces emergency roadworks to be carried out.

But it warned motorists that all claims for compensation were "thoroughly investigated" and that false claims were thrown out.

The figures were released after motorists have faced a host of delays following extensive repair work to damaged concrete slabs on the M54 near junction three for Albrighton and junction two for Wolverhampton. The repair works led to disruption for motorists and a series of overnight closures. There have also been long-running works at the junction of the M6 and M5.

Officials say 160,000 vehicles are using the M6 section at the end of the M54 every day. In total, 1,085 potholes were repaired on the M54 from the M6 link to J7 in 2014/15 as well as the M6 between J6 and J15 and the M5 between J1 and J4.

Potholes wider than six inches and deeper than 1.5 inches must be repaired within 24 hours once their are discovered.

Highways England spokesman Alistair Harris said: "We thoroughly investigate all compensation claims to ensure they are genuine, to establish what happened and whether someone was at fault, and to decide the level of compensation necessary.

"Any payouts for damage are a result of this thorough process."

He said "sheer weight of traffic" made potholes inevitable, adding: "The weight of vehicles creates pressure, friction and wear. The surfacing we use is the best available material for the job – however, very few materials could withstand this weight of traffic without deterioration. As a result, regular resurfacing work is necessary to keep the road in a safe, smooth condition.

"Our contractors regularly patrol the M6 and use a specialist mobile capturing system, which logs all road surface defects, including their precise location, and the time they were noticed.

"All potholes are categorised depending on their severity and location, and can either be 'safety critical' or 'non-safety critical'. Our contractors are instructed to respond to all safety critical reports within 24 hours, though in practice, it's often much faster than that."