It has been revealed that in the last three years West Lothian Council has spent an estimated £504,200 repairing potholes.
The data is from a Freedom of Information (FOI) request MSP Miles Briggs sent to the Scottish Government asking about pothole damage since 2007.
The Daily Record reported that figures for potholes identified by the council are only available from 2017 onwards, however they reveal that in the last three years there have been 5042 identified by West Lothian Council.
The council estimates that each one costs £100 to repair, so the 5042 identified since 2017 would cost the council £504,200 in total to repair.
Data for the full 12 years shows that the public has reported 7119 potholes since 2007, which works out at 593 a year on average, but in 2018 the numbers spiked when 1271 potholes were reported after damage from the Beast of the East storm.
It also revealed that West Lothian Council have paid out £25,529 to road users in claims for damage caused by these potholes since 2007.
SNP MSP Fiona Hyslop said: “I am conscious that potholes and road conditions are an issue in some parts of West Lothian.
"However this is a matter for West Lothian Council and given that West Lothian Council received £317.3m in 2018/19 in revenue funding from the Scottish Government and £325.9m in revenue funding in 2019/20, I am surprised that the Labour/Conservative administration at West Lothian Council has chosen to spend so little on maintaining local roads in recent years.”
