ALMOST £400,000 has been paid out to pedestrians in two years for slip and trip injuries in Glasgow.

Almost a quarter of the claims made to Glasgow City Council have involved falls caused by road and pavement craters, with most of the £389,992 paid out for those incidents. Dozens more claims involving potholes are still ongoing.

Last year a 74-year-old woman fractured her foot after stumbling on a 3ft wide pothole in the city centre. The crater had been reported to Glasgow City Council nine days earlier.

Wilma Bennett, from Bishopbriggs, needed surgery to correct the break, which left her having to use a wheelchair and endure months of pain. She now uses walking sticks to get around, but says she is fearful about visiting the city centre.

Freedom of Information figures show 759 claims were made to the council for slip and trip injuries from January 2, 2012, to March 20 this year. A total of 504 claims are now settled and 255 are ongoing. The biggest amount paid out was £14,729 on April 14, 2012, for a injury caused by a pavement defect.

A spokeswoman for Glasgow City Council said: "The impact of recent investment has resulted in the number of potholes, reported by the public, falling to the lowest level for a number of years.

"Following last years investment, the number of potholes reported by the public fell from 10,271 in 2012/13 to 7270 in 2013/14. The impact of the £5.3 million permanent patching programme has also helped to reduce the number of public liability claims."