With winter around the corner, motorists will be fearing Britain’s so-called ‘pothole epidemic’ could end up costing them a fortune.

Repairs to vehicles damaged by potholes are becoming an additional driving expense for motorists who are already paying heavily to keep their cars on the road.

Potholes cause concern for councils already cash-strapped from other financial commitments, and with winter on the way contingency plans have to be put in place for repairs to roads.

According to Britannia Rescue there is now one pothole for every mile of road across the country. Figures obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request showed councils have paid out a total of £2.5m in compensation to motorists in the past financial year for pothole damage to cars.

Britannia claimed the combination of a harsh winter followed by a dry summer had particularly harmed road surfaces and exacerbated the problem.

Kath Parry is used to hearing about pothole problems. The commercial director for Low Moor logistics firm MC Logistics hears people talking about them all the time, and not just her employees who have to navigate them.

“I don’t think there is a road anywhere that hasn’t got a pothole,” says Kath, who would like to see more funding from the road tax Britain’s drivers pay put into keeping the roads in a better condition.

Bradford Council’s highways department explains the Council “adopts a proactive approach to fixing potholes and has moved away from a reactive response base to a planned and co-ordinated regime consisting of planned patching, surface dressing and resurfacing in problem areas.”

Initially, pothole reports from the public are logged through the Council’s contact centre and passed to its contractor.

If the pothole is greater than 40mm deep, the response will be within 24 hours, but if it is a minor job the timescale could be between five working days and three months, depending on the severity when assessed by highways inspectors.

Some jobs may require responses from external bodies, such as statutory undertakers, resulting in response times becoming beyond the Council’s control, although they say they attempt to ensure works are carried out as quickly as possible in such cases.

Due to recent severe winters, additional funding for road repairs has been provided by the Department for Transport and the Council’s budgets to address the most severe problems.

Councillor Andrew Palfreeman, (Con, Birstall and Birkenshaw), says people are constantly complaining about potholes.

“And it’s not necessarily the main roads, it is a lot of estate roads which don’t seem to get much attention at all,” he says.

He believes pothole problems may be exacerbated by the fact that many are not repaired properly in the first place – but a temporary fix may end up costing councils more in the long term.

“The only way we can actually save money is by doing the job properly. It may cost a little bit more in the first place but you may not have to go back for a few years, whereas now they are going back time after time,” says Coun Palfreeman.

Kirklees, which covers parts of the Spen Valley, has repaired 62,272 potholes. The council has also set aside a £1.8m adverse weather budget for this year.

Peter Horton, managing director of Britannia Rescue, says: “Britain’s pothole epidemic has resulted from years of under-investment in our roads and has been exacerbated by recent harsh winters.

“Local authorities face difficult choices in the roads they prioritise for repair and we now have around 200,000 potholes on UK roads. Motorists should protect themselves and their vehicles by reducing their speed on potholed roads, and also reporting damaged roads to the Council.”

Transport Minister Robert Goodwill says: “Councils have been given billions by the Government for maintenance and filling potholes on local roads and the public expects them to use that money.”

Peter Box, chairman of the Local Government Association’s economy and transport board, says: “Decades of underfunding, severe winters and recent widespread flooding have left large swathes of our roads in disrepair with many councils struggling with a £10 billion repair backlog and only able to patch up a deteriorating network.

“Despite our best efforts, the situation will only get worse as councils contend with deep Government funding cuts and spiralling compensation costs for pothole damage.

“Councils need increased and consistent funding to invest in the widespread resurfacing projects which our roads network desperately needs if we’re to see a long-term improvement.”