COUNCIL highway chiefs have hit back at claims that Worcestershire has the worst pothole problem in the West Midlands.

Freedom of information requests made by insurance company confused.com said 29,968 potholes were reported in Worcestershire in 2016 amounting to a total depth of nearly 1,2000 metres.

But highway chiefs rubbished the findings responding that the county has in fact some of the best roads in the region.

Jon Fraser, highways manager at Worcestershire County Council, said: "The figures quoted are not the number of potholes.

"They may be the number of highway defects reported into our customer management system, this includes all highway defects, not just potholes.

"There is also no such thing as a total pothole depth.

"We've had record investment into highway maintenance over the last few years."

Highway defects could include cracking around drains, uneven surfaces, debris or general deterioration.

Worcestershire County Council said it received 134 claims for damage caused by potholes last year of which 14 were settled at a cost of £3,018. Nine cases are still ongoing.

Worcestershire County Council received an extra £1.1 million in funding from the Department for Transport as part of a special 'pothole allocation fund' at the start of the year.

That money came in addition to the £12 million planned to be invested by 2018 on highway maintenance by Worcestershire County Council as part of its 'Driving Home' programme.

The council says it has also made significant investment in reducing potholes and has treated over 1.3 million square metres of road this year in Worcester.

City streets including College Street, Oldbury Road, Britannia Square, Bilford Road, Brickfields Road, Cole Hill and Wylds Lane have all been resurfaced recently and work on Tolladine Road is currently underway.

The council encourages people to report potholes through its website www.worcestershire.gov.uk/reportit or by the @WorcsTravel Twitter account. If the pothole is reported online, you can track the progress of the repair.