MORE than £100,000 was paid out in compensation to drivers whose vehicles were damaged due to pot holes on Hampshire roads.

Almost 2,000 claims were made by drivers over the course of a year meaning Hampshire received more claims than any other authority.

Figures show that of the 1,952 claims made, 306 were successful. In all £103,480 was paid out to disgruntled drivers between 2015 and 2016.

Hampshire transport chiefs have hit back over the figures saying as the third biggest county in the country they are responsible for more than 5,300 miles of roads and figures should be viewed as the number of claims made per 100 miles.

In Southampton the state of the roads cost the authority just £109 for the same period with 75 claims made of which one was successful.

Councillor Rob Humby, Executive Member for Environment and Transport at Hampshire County Council, said: “Hampshire is the third largest county in England, with over 5,300 miles of road, much of it rural.

"In fact, if you look at total claims in relation to the size of the network, it would show that Hampshire’s figure of 37 claims per 100 miles means that Hampshire County Council is certainly not the authority that receives the most claims in England.

"The county is also strategically placed between two major ports and London, with roads leading to major motorways and trunk roads, and also has the highest car ownership nationally; therefore Hampshire’s roads are subject to very heavy traffic.

"Additionally, during the winter of 2014, Hampshire’s roads suffered severely from prolonged flooding, a fact acknowledged by the Government when an extra £17.5million was allocated to repair the potholes and damage done to the roads during the extreme weather, although the damage caused amounted to twice the figure Government provided.

“It’s certainly time the Government thought about reinvesting some of the huge income they receive in tax from motorists, ensuring hard pressed councils are given the tools to do the job they need to do to maintain the critical infrastructure that keeps the national economy going ."

Earlier this month it was reported how the council had announced a £90m highways improvement plan which included work to repair potholes.

Of that figure £1.48 million had been secured through a pothole action grant, from the Government's Department for Transport.