The amount of compensation paid by Dundee City Council to motorists whose vehicles were damaged by potholes fell to a five-year low last year.
Despite the heavy snow of late 2010, which caused extensive damage to the city’s road network, the local authority only paid out £2,375 in compensation to drivers in 2010/11.
This was just over a quarter of the £9,150 paid out the year before and an incredible £40,000 less than in 2008/09, when the council had to pay for repairs totalling £42,292.
The figures, which were released as part of a Freedom of information request made by the Scottish Conservatives, show Dundee City Council paid out £88,196 over the last five years.
Council finance convener Willie Sawers said: ”The avoidance of accidents is a high priority for the council so we strive to make sure that any damaged roads are repaired as soon as they are brought to our attention.”
Fife Council had to pay £6,262 in 2010/11, up from £5,390 the previous year.
However, the total compensation paid out by the council over the last five years was just £15,411.
Angus and Perth and Kinross councils both paid out far less to disgruntled motorists than either Dundee or Fife.
In Angus, only £340 was paid to motorists in 2010/11, down from £5,499 the previous year. Over the past five years the council has had to pay out a total of £10,011.
Over the past five years Perth and Kinross Council has paid out £7,438. Two years ago the local authority paid out £790 but that dropped to just £90 in 2010/11.
Across Scotland, the total compensation bill over the last five years is nearly £2 million.
Councils have paid out £1,738,966. The 2010/11 total was £399,054, up from £283,662 the previous year.
Scottish Conservative deputy leader Jackson Carlaw said: ”This is an astonishing level of compensation paid out by local authorities in Scotland to motorists and the £2 million bill is just the tip of the iceberg, as there will be many motorists who won’t have claimed for damage from their local authorities.
”Furthermore the compensation bill is only part of the cost of dealing with the claims as councils will spend vast sums of time and money dealing with each individual claim.”
Although compensation bills in Tayside and Fife are falling, they could be set to rise in coming years as councils have had to slash their budgets for road repairs.