A FURIOUS Ardrossan driver whose claim against North Ayrshire Council for pothole damage has stalled is not taking no for an answer and is going to have his day in court.

Like every other motorist in the area, David Adair from Border Avenue is very familiar with the slalom manoeuvres needed to avoid rutted and pot-holed roads in the area these days.

But on February 2 – in a momentary lapse in concentration – David whacked his Renault Kangoo straight into a six-inch deep pothole in Parkhouse Road, busting a coil spring causing £80 worth of damage.

David, 77, lodged a claim with NAC to recover the cost but hit a road block when the council’s insurers denied any liability.

Zurich Municipal wrote to David saying: “We believe this damage is more likely attributable to normal wear and tear on a vehicle of this age, as opposed to the result of one incident.” David lashed back: “The car may be 10 years old but it only has 58,000 miles on the clock and is regularly serviced.

“If anything was wrong with the spring it would have been noticed during servicing.

“I’ve been told by the Renault garage that only an impact – like hitting a pothole for example – could cause such catastrophic damage.” The retired Explosives Control Engineer said: “I’m being fobbed off, but I’m not going to be fobbed off any more.  “I’m taking the matter to the Small Claims Court.” He added: “It’s not the £80, which is a relatively small amount. It’s the principle.” The Council can only be held liable for damage if it can be proved they knew about the pothole and failed to do anything about it.

In correspondence with Mr Adair, Lesley Aird, Head of Finance for NAC, said: “The Council inspects this road every month in line with their statutory duty.

“At the inspection on 27 January 2015 a defect was noted and (a repair notice was issued).

“The repairs were completed on 4 February 2015, therefore, the Council met its statutory duty.” Figures show that few claimants in North Ayrshire are successful.

In the financial year 2012/13, only £318 was paid out in compensation to motorists for damage caused by potholes compared to £3.7k in East Ayrshire and a whopping £15.3k in South Ayrshire.

The figure for the previous year in North Ayrshire was £3.5k.

Over the five years up to 2014, a total of £10,786 was paid out in pothole compensation by the Council.

The money reimbursed by NAC in 2012/2013 was for two claims out of a total of 52.

In South Ayrshire there were 174 claims of which 59 were successful.

The council’s budget for repairing roads fluctuates. In the financial year about to close, North Ayrshire Council will have spent an estimated £5.25million on road repairs.

This compares with £5.6million spent in 2013/14 and £5million in 2012/13.

The budget for road repairs in the coming financial year is pencilled in as £5.2million.

A spokesperson for the Council said: “As a policy, we don’t comment on individual claims.”