Britain has a “pothole epidemic”, according to a breakdown company.
There is now one pothole for every mile of road, according to data gathered by Britannia Rescue.
Figures obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request showed that councils have paid out a total of £2.5million in compensation to motorists in the past financial year for pothole damage to cars.
Britannia claimed the combination of a harsh winter followed by a dry summer had particularly harmed road surfaces and exacerbated the problem.
It added that UK councils had received 32,600 compensation claims in 2012/13 for everything from potholes ruining wheel rims, to puncturing tyres and damaging suspension – an increase of 79% from 2011/12.
One of the country’s largest local authorities, Lincolnshire County Council, reported pay-outs amounting to more than £358,665 in 2012/13.
The company described road maintenance in the UK as “severely under-funded with around £16 spent per driver on maintaining roads and fixing potholes – less than 10% of the annual road tax bill”.
It added: “Short-term fixes are often chosen over longer-term solutions, with close to a quarter (23%) of councils admitting they usually temporarily fix potholes rather than resurface the area.
“The average cost of repairing a pothole is around £50, meaning the amount paid out by councils in compensation could have been used to repair more than 50,000 potholes.”
The average repair bill for pothole damage to a vehicle in the last year was £140. The most common problems were tyre damage, damaged suspension and damaged wheel rims.
Britannia Rescue managing director Peter Horton said: “Britain’s pothole epidemic has resulted from years of under-investment in our roads and has been exacerbated by recent harsh winters.
“We now have around 200,000 potholes on UK roads.
“Motorists should protect themselves and their vehicles by reducing their speed on potholed roads, and also reporting damaged roads to their local council.”