THE number of potholes being reported by the public has fallen to its lowest level in years, the city council has revealed.

In the year to March 31, the council says it will have completed more than 15,000 permanent pothole repairs - the highest ever carried out in a 12 month period - at a cost of £5.3 million.

That has resulted in the number of claims by the public for compensation for damage to vehicles or personal injury falling by 36 %.

Over the last three years, the local authority has invested £45m in a bid to improve the condition of city roads.

The council is responsible for a road network of around 1100 miles - more than the distance from Glasgow to Madrid. Investment over the last four years has seen almost 250 miles of carriageway resurfaced, with 86 miles resurfaced this financial year.

The material used would fill more than 75 Olympic Games-sized swimming pools, resurface more than nine marathon routes or cover 1500 laps of the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.

In the last four years, more than 200 main roads in the city have been resurfaced.

Council chiefs say these include Clarkston Road, Maryhill Road, Tollcross Road, Dumbarton Road, Castlemilk Drive, Paisley Road West, Victoria Road, the Clydeside Expressway, London Road and Great Western Road.

And 320 residential streets have been resurfaced in the past four years.

A council spokesman said: "City centre roads have also benefited from sustained investment, totalling over £3.5m across the last three years.

"In addition to many of the city centre streets being resurfaced, a programme of repairs is ongoing on city centre bus stops."

Improvements have also been carried out to public areas in the city centre.

These include repairs and refurbishment to Sauchiehall Street, Buchanan Street, Argyle Street and the transport hubs of Central Station and Buchanan Bus Station.

Alistair Watson, the council's land and environment spokesman, said: "Deterioration of the road network is an issue nationally.

"However, Glasgow City Council, through our prudent management of the resources made available, is bucking the Scotland-wide trend of deterioration.

"Our city's roads network is one of Glasgow's most valuable assets and we are tactically targeting our resources to give the people of Glasgow the roads they deserve.

"It is no secret we have been facing extraordinary pressure on our budget in recent years.

"However, we are on course to carry out a record number of permanent patching repairs this year."

vivienne.nicoll@ eveningtimes.co.uk