Almost 50,000 drivers made claims against councils across Britain for damage caused to their vehicles by potholes in the last financial year.

The 200, out of a total of 207, local highways authorities in Scotlan, England, Scotland and Wales who responded to Freedom of Information requests from the RAC Foundation dealt with 48,664 compensation claims in the 2013/14 financial year.

This is the equivalent of roughly one claim being submitted every 11 minutes day and night 365 days a year and an increase on the 2012/13 figure of 46,139 claims.

Councils refused the majority of claims, agreeing to pay out in less than a quarter (23per cent) of cases, and the total value of successful claims was £3.2 million.

The average payout for a successful claim in 2013/14 was £286, down from £357 the year before and the average administration cost of each claim - successful or not - was £147, the transport policy and research organisation said.

In England, there were 42,662 claims made to local authority highways authorities and 9,792 of them were successful, with the total value of the successful claims coming to £2.9 million.

In Scotland, there were 4,511 claims and 1,126 of them were successful, with the total value of the successful claims coming to £228,000.

In Wales, there were 1,491 and 266 of them were successful, with the total value of successful claims coming to £73,000.

Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said the figures are "likely to be the tip of the iceberg" and said councils are not given enough money for roads.

"Many drivers will be put off by the time involved in claiming against a council, and many councils do their best to deter claimants coming forward.

"But the fundamental problem lies not at the doors of our town halls but with central government. Despite occasional one-off grants related to periods of harsh weather, they are simply not giving councils enough money to keep their road networks up to scratch," he said.