JUST 13 claims out of nearly 350 made to Fife Council for pothole damage have been successful in the last year.

The local authority have revealed the current figure – a total of 3.75 per cent – after a freedom of information request from the Scottish Liberal Democrats had showed that only four payouts had been made.

Former Dunfermline MP Willie Rennie, now MSP for North East Fife, has expressed his concern at the figures – which also showed a £77.6 million road maintenance backlog for the period from the start of 2022 until March this year.

In this time, 347 third-party liability claims were made against Fife Council relating to road defects but, at that time, just four were settled in favour of the claimant.

Mr Rennie has called for the process to be sped up.

“Road-users across Fife know that the state of our roads is far below what it should be, and damage caused by potholes is common," he said.

"The estimated cost of bringing roads in Fife up to standard shows the consequence of years of Scottish Government under-funding which has starved councils of the resources they need to provide basic services.

“Claims against the council for damage need to be assessed individually on their merits, but the exceptionally small number which been settled in favour of road-users could indicate delays in processing.

"Legitimate claims need to be assessed and resolved quickly otherwise people will be discouraged from recovering the costs of damage.”

Fife Council's risk management service manager Pamela Redpath said that since the figures had changed since the response was provided to the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

“Since we responded to the original request, further claims investigations have concluded, bringing the total number settled in favour of the claimant to 13," she said.

"We have procedures in place so that every claim is dealt with consistently and fairly. Claims are assessed by a specialist firm of legal liability claim-handlers who base their decisions on information provided by the council and the claimant.

"Claims are only paid if the Council has not met its legal duty to inspect and maintain roads. To help ensure claims are dealt with promptly, the claims process is overseen by the Council's Risk Management Team.”​