Potholes are regularly caused in winter as ice and snow damage the roads.

Crumbling roads in Burton have earned the town a reputation as one of the most potholed areas in the country while new figures reveal pothole damage is on the increase across England, rising by almost a third in 2017

Councils are meant to look after the roads, so what happens if a road wrecks your car?

According to our colleagues at Mirror Online, you may have a case if your car is damaged while driving around.

Dean Dunham, a lawyer and consumer rights expert who also runs the Retail Ombudsman, said: "It’s that time of year when potholes become an issue, especially with the bad weather we are experiencing, as this causes our roads to deteriorate.

"Adam Wright wrote to me this week and his story highlights the problems that you can encounter.

"Adam drove his high end car into a pothole which he describes as being about 40cm in diameter and 10cm deep.

"As a consequence, his left front tyre burst and the alloy wheel buckled, causing thousands of pounds of damage.

"He contacted his local authority but they refused to pay him compensation saying 'the pothole was clearly visible as a bright yellow circle has been sprayed around it to alert drivers. We therefore cannot be held responsible for the damage caused to your vehicle'.

"Really? They clearly got this wrong."

Who's really responsible for pothole damage

If you damage your vehicle in a pothole, follow these steps to avoid a negative response:

  1. Collect evidence - Take photographs of the pothole (including close-up images and images of its location on the road), the size and depth of the pothole – you can use something like a ruler in the photograph to demonstrate this – and the damage to your vehicle.
  2. Assess the damage - You need to know how much it is going to cost to repair the damage caused to your vehicle. Obtain written quotes for this.
  3. Make a report - All councils allow you to report potholes via their websites. When you make a report, include all the supporting evidence you have collated and the quotes to repair the damage.

The highways authority, most likely to be a city or county council unless it happened on a motorway or dual carriageway, will review all the evidence you have provided and make an assessment as to their liability.

If you have submitted all the relevant evidence they are more likely to pay out.

However, section 58 of the Highways Act 1980 provides councils with a statutory defence if they can show that reasonable care was taken to secure the road and that it wasn’t dangerous to traffic.

In other words, if the local authority knew about the pothole but hasn’t repaired it, or hasn’t followed road maintenance guidelines, you may be able to claim compensation.