B4526 worst Oxfordshire road for potholes compensation
The same stretch of road is Oxfordshire's worst for potholes for the second year running, according to new figures.
A Freedom of Information request revealed the county council paid about £100,000 in compensation to motorists for pothole damage over two years. For the second year running the B4526 came top for damage claims. The council said "comprehensive repairs" to prevent potholes on the B4526 would cost £6.4m. A total of £7,758.96 compensation was paid out for damage caused on the B4526, which runs between Goring and Cane End, from April 2014 to March 2015. The A4074, which links Oxford and Reading, was the second worst with £5,605.22 in payouts. Bent wheel Over the last two years, 192 defects relating to the condition of the carriageway were recorded on the B4526. Of these, 105 were potholes and 61 were clusters of potholes which resulted in £16,808 of compensation, the council said. The biggest single compensation payment was £3,905.46 and related to damaged caused on the Goring to Cane End road. Motorist Robin Adams, who lives near Goring, told BBC Radio Oxford he claimed £300 after damaging a wheel on a pothole. Delivery driver Andy Benton, who lives near Chipping Norton, said he hit a deep pothole on the A40 in West Oxfordshire and bent the wheel on his car, but did not make a claim. He said: "It's pretty bad everywhere. A lot of the side roads are absolutely awful." In a statement Oxfordshire County Council said: "Reducing the number of potholes is a national problem, not a local problem. "We are similar to most authorities and managing a road network without as much funding as we would like." The council said it was working to develop more effective ways to make and fund repairs to highways.