MORE than 500 claims have been made for compensation relating to potholes in the past year.

Of the 508 claims made to Cambridgeshire County Council between April 2012 and April 2013, 91 were accepted, 98 were rejected, 39 were withdrawn by the claimant and 280 are still in progress.

The council has paid out £29,269 compensation in the past year, which represents a significant reduction from the £215,323 paid out in 2011-12.

They were hit particularly hard in 2009-10, during which £621,584 was paid out to successful claimants.

Overall, £1.66 million compensation has been paid out since 2008.

The largest amount paid out for a successful compensation claim in the past five years was £42,500 for damage to a motorbike and injuries to a person.

In the past year, the largest single payout was £1,750 for two tyres and wheels on a Mercedes.

Cambridgeshire County Council spent £241,151 fixing and repairing potholes on roads and footpaths last year, and £1.473 million tackling the issue since 2008.

A spokesman said: “It should be taken into account that the figures for pot hole repairs do not include resurfacing works - where a number of pot holes are fixed at the same time. In reality, over the last year (2012/13) we actually spent £7million maintaining Cambridgeshire’s roads.

“As we’ve previously announced, we have approved £90million of extra funding to highways maintenance - this is on top of what is already budgeted for.

“Already this year our teams have fixed more than 12,000 potholes and we’re committed to keeping the roads across Cambridgeshire in as good a condition as possible.”