Council ordered to pay damages and costs in pothole case after motorist's 'misery'

The council said it was responsible for almost 500 miles of highway and took "potholes extremely seriously".

A small claims court heard that the dad billed the council for the around £430 cost of repairing the vehicle after it was damaged in Clifford Street in Whitmore Reans in December 2023. 

But the authority which is responsible for maintaining roads and fixing potholes denied any wrongdoing and refused to pay out.

Wolverhampton Council defended the case and was subsequently ordered to pay damages of £253.83 and costs of £109.

A Wolverhampton Council spokesperson said: “The council as Highway Authority is responsible for the maintenance of more than 735km of roads and footways and we have a robust inspection programme in place.

"The council takes the repair of potholes extremely seriously. Over the past year, we have repaired more than 7,400 potholes on roads across the city.

“When a defect, or fault, is identified any necessary repairs are carried out within set timescales. Defects reported by members of the public are treated in the same way.

“The authority is under a duty to protect the public funds it administers and will defend any case where it believes the evidence shows we have complied with our strict inspection regime.”

The case was brought through the Civil Money Claims service.

The council said that it had properly raised a statutory defence under the Highways Act and that it had no control over when the court heard the case.

It added that Mr Birch brought two claims – one which succeeded and a second case was dismissed.