Tyrone pothole hell: 165 complaints a day

In addition, local motorists have received almost £1.2million in compensation claims from the Roads Service in the past five years.

Potholes have been blamed for the high number of complaints over the past three years to the Western Division Office, which includes, Dungannon, Cookstown and Magherafelt.

The figure, 180,298, is the second highest in Northern Ireland, after the Southern Division’s total of 218,448.

The amount of compensation paid in public liability claims by the Western Division amounted to just over £1,171,000 since 2009.

However, it’s feared that the true number of pothole incidents could be much higher with many motorists not reporting their experience of poorly maintained roads, and with the AA noting a sharp rise in pothole damage claims.

Sinn Fein Councillor and Deputy Mayor of Dungannon District Council, Dominic Molloy criticised the high amount of claims paid out. 
“I would question the foresight of those maintaining our roads, that perhaps the cost of compensation to those motorists over the past number of years could have gone to not only filling potholes but with a bit of investment could have resurfaced large sections of road”, he said.