THEY are the bane of motorists' lives - and a costly one at that.

Potholes blight our roads and can often lead to expensive repair bills on our cars.

Local councils have been left counting the costs of their appearance too - particularly following the continuous wet conditions - and putting additional pressure on their already tight budgets.

In the past five years, Bradford Council has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on repairing potholes.

The breakdown being: £167,000 spent in 2012/13 to repair 4,375 potholes; £118,000 spent in 2013/14 to repair 3,093 potholes; £136,000 spent in 2014/15 to repair 3,576 potholes and £129,000 spent in 2015/16 to repair of 3,390 potholes.

While the number of potholes had dropped in 2013 and 2014, Dave Mazurke, group operations manager for Bradford Council says they have noticed a spike in the last two months and, predominantly, on rural roads due to the recent continuous wet conditions.

However, help is now at hand as the council sets to work with a specialist 'jet patcher' process. The council previously used the process, which uses a machine to carry out fast and efficient repairs and is estimated to take usually no longer than two minutes each, on a demo before Christmas.

The Velocity repair costs less than a third of the price of conventional methods and due to the swift process results in shorter road closures and reduces the need for highways permits as all the defects are repaired under mobile works.

During the process, the materials are forced 'jigsaw-like' to fully bond with the road surface reducing the risk of further road base damage.

"It's been very good because it is a fast repair system," says Dave.

He explains since 2012 the council has been pro-active in pothole repairs. "But this winter with it being bad and wet we have noticed the rural roads have spiked a bit and it has gone up a touch. There has been that much water it has got into the sub-base and it is washing the stone and tarmac out."

After successfully applying to the Department for Transport for funding to cover previous pothole repairs, Dave says they are now hoping to secure additional funding.

"We are applying for extra funding for it because it isn't just Bradford, it is nationally," he says, referring to the extent of the pothole problem.

Then there are the claims. Bradford Council was notified of 149 insurance claims involving potholes on the highway between 01/01/2015 and 31/12/2015.

Dave says claims for pothole damage have also increased during the winter period.

According to a new AA poll of 25,208 drivers, almost two out of five drivers have suffered pothole damage in the past two years.

Around 39 per cent of drivers have had their tyres, bodywork or other parts of their vehicles affected after hitting a pothole.

AA president, Edmund King, urged local authorities to "get to grips with fundamental road maintenance" such as poor drainage and crumbling surfaces.

The Local Government Association's transport spokesman Peter Box warned that there is a £12 billion backlog in road repairs that would take council's "more than a decade" to clear.

He added: "Councils fix more potholes than ever - one every 15 seconds - and keeping roads safe is one of the most important jobs we do.

"Current funding levels, however, and the size of the backlog mean they can only keep pace with patching up our roads and filling potholes.

"Long-term and consistent investment in local road maintenance is desperately needed."

According to a Kirklees Council spokesman more than 25,000 potholes have been repaired in their authority in the last 12 months or eight of every mile of road in Kirklees.

"But keeping the local roads in reasonable repair requires constant work. The long period of heavy rain and the winter weather, although milder than normal, has taken a heavy toll on the condition of the roads in Kirklees and the council is constantly undertaking repairs the roads affected. All recent reports of defects have been prioritised and programmed for repair," says the spokesman.

Transport Minister Andrew Jones says: "I know how important well-maintained roads are to people up and down Britain.

"That is why the Government is providing unprecedented levels of investment, allocating a record £6 billion to councils in England to improve local roads over the next five years.

"We topped this up with £250 million last year specifically to tackle the blight of potholes."