More than £200,00 is paid out by authorities in Hampshire to drivers who complained their cars had been damaged by potholes on the county's roads

New figures revealed that 716 motorists made claims against the county council – equivalent to two a day – landing council chiefs with a bill of £211,000.

The money was paid out between April 2013 and the same time last year – 61 per cent more than the £82,786.58 they |paid out for pothole damage the year before.

The large sum has ranked Hampshire the fourth highest authority in the country when it comes to pothole compensation, only beaten by Kent, Essex and Surrey.

However, in Southampton the figures are significantly less, with 104 drivers making claims against the council last year – and only two of them received a payout, which was a share of £376.

That’s two more than the previous year, between 2012 and 2013, when 61 people complained their vehicles had been damaged, but city council chiefs didn’t part with any money.

The figures are revealed just one month after the Government announced Hampshire would get a slice of £6bn to deal with potholes over the next six years.

Hampshire County Council is set to receive £140m and Southampton City Council will get £9m to fix the worst affected roads between now and 2021 in a scheme Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin expects to plug more than |18 million potholes across England.

County council bosses say they have already spent £62m fixing 105,000 potholes in the last 12 months.

In Southampton, the Daily Echo reported how council chiefs made a U-turn and fixed dozens of potholes they initially said were not deep enough to repair in Coxford Road, Lordswood, while money was spent fixing Bellemoor Road in Shirley after complaints by residents.

Hampshire’s transport chief Sean Woodward said it was no surprise Hampshire was almost top of the list.

He said: “Of Hampshire’s 5,200 miles of road, most of them are country roads and the bases that they sit on are much thinner so when they were under water for months last winter, the roads broke up so it’s hardly surprising that you see that peak in claims.”

Southampton’s roads boss Jacqui Rayment was not available for comment.