Harrow Borough Council has paid out more than £13,000 in compensation to motorists whose cars were damaged by potholes in the last two years.

A Freedom of Information request from the Harrow Times revealed that 83 drivers sought damages from the authority after their cars hit potholes.

Of these, 57 claims were rejected and the driver was not reimbursed.

The successful claims amount to £13,330.

Potholes are caused when rainwater seeps into a road then freezes and expands, cracking the asphalt. Holes are widened when rain washes loose debris away.

Last year was the wettest winter on record, leaving cars with broken spokes, punctured tyres and buckled wheels.

The highest sum paid out for a single claim in Harrow was £1,792, which was paid out after a motorist damaged his car in Little Common, Stanmore.

Coming second was a claim relating to a hole in Kenton Road, where £1,692 was paid out. Third most costly was a hole in Station Road, Harrow, with £1,382.

A pothole in The Ridgeway, North Harrow, saw a successful claim for £1,290 and in Evelyn Drive, Hatch End, £1,061 was paid out.

The worst affected road was Uxbridge Road, in Hatch End, which came out top with nine people attempting to make a claim in three years – but on every occasion, the request failed.

And none of the eight motorists who reported damage to their car in Common Road, Harrow, were reimbursed.

Although three people made a request for compensation after their cars were damaged in The Chase, Stanmore, only one claim of £443 was successful.

Other notable roads include Harrow-on-the-Hill, where two out of two claims were successful – one for £100 and one for £115.

Department of Transport statistics show that since 2010 an additional 2,262 miles of local roads require maintenance work – further than going from Land’s End to John O’Groats and back again.

Last year, Harrow Borough Council announced it would work to tackle more than 9,000 potholes to prepare for the winter last summer.

Repair work was given a boost with a £230,000 grant from the Department for Transport, which is half of the council’s £450,000 annual budget on pothole repairs.

Harrow Times:

Where are the worst potholes onin north London? E-mail chief reporter Anna Slater on aslater@london.newsquest.co.uk.