Councils are paying out an average of £8,800 per cyclist in pothole compensation claims, a new investigation has revealed.

The figures, complied by Cycling UK found pothole claims made by cyclists are 25 times higher than councils are paying out to motorists due to people being seriously injured or killed.

Over a five-year period, councils paid on £8,800 per cyclist on average for incidents involving potholes, compared to around £340 per motorist. In this time period, 537 cyclists and more than 19,000 motorists made successful claims against their local council.

‘Cyclists are running the gauntlet when riding on British roads following a decade of underinvestment leading to the poor state they’re currently in,’ said Cycling UK CEO Paul Tuohy. ‘Potholes aren’t just an expensive nuisance, they are ruining lives.’

Cycling UK is calling on the Government to invest part of its £25bn Road Investment Strategy into repairing local roads.