Pothole-plagued roads crippling small businesses with £500 in repairs and lost customers

SMALL businesses claim they are being crippled by pothole-plagued roads.

Nearly half have reported damage or disruption in the past year, according to research.

A quarter of firms say they have paid more than £300 to repair pothole damage.

Additionally, 13 per cent have been stung for more than £500 in the past 12 months.

The research by the Federation of Small Businesses found that as well as ­damaging work vehicles, potholes are causing firms to miss meetings, lose customers and suffer delays.

The FSB wants the £500million pledged for road repairs in last month’s Budget to be ringfenced exclusively for fixing ­potholes, and for it not to be absorbed into wider ­transport projects.

The organisation is calling for the £500m pledged for road repairs in the Budget to be ring-fenced.

It also wants a nationwide pothole compensation claim form to be rolled out and promoted by councils.

The FSB said: “Small businesses are currently under the cosh with increasing costs across the board.

"Having to pay out to fix costly damage from a vehicle or dealing with other disruption is the last thing they need.”

New data compiled from 18 local authorities by the RAC show some regions experiencing spikes in claims by up to 366%.