Freedom of Information responses from more than 90 councils show they have paid out more than £82M. This number doesnt inlcude more than 10,000 cases which are still outstanding.
Liberal Democrat transport spokesman, Norman Baker said taxpayers could ill-afford to foot the bill for compensation claims.
'With council and household budgets under more pressure than ever, the last thing the local taxpayer needs is to be paying massive compensation claims for injuries caused by dangerous pavements.
'This is money that could have been spent on improving pavements and preventing these problems in the first place.
'Although some councils are investing heavily to improve their footways, others seem content to almost ignore pedestrians entirely. Too many councils seem interested only in motorists and not those who walk, cycle or take the bus.
'It appears that some councils seem to be making the cynical calculation that they can afford to pay out compensation rather than invest in improving pavements. This could prove to be a costly mistake if pavements are allowed to deteriorate too far.'
Embarrassingly however the top three councils who paid out the most in the last five years are all, at least partly, under the control of Lib Dems.
Leeds City Council (Con/Lib Dem) had forked out the most - more than £10.2M - followed by Birmingham (no overall control) with £7.6M and Liverpool (Lib Dem) with £5.5M.
Protecting the public realm without shutting it down
As Martyn's Law approaches, this free special report from LocalGov and Hill & Smith sets out how councils can protect public spaces without shutting them down.
