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 the Evening Times told how 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 obtained by the Evening Times 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.

On January 28 2012, £7200 was paid out for an injury suffered because of a pothole and less than a month later £6610 was paid out to a pedestrian for another fall caused by a pavement crater.

On April 1 2012, a pedestrian was awarded £11,967 for a fall caused by a sunken fire hydrant. The biggest amount paid out was £14,729 on April 14 2012, for a injury caused by a pavement defect.

A total of £11,143 was paid out to a school pupil who fell on ice in the playground.

Others successful claims have been made for falls caused by faulty street lighting, an exposed cable at a pedestrian crossing and a tree stump.

Claims that are still to be settled include a fall caused by metal sticking out of a pavement.

Figures also revealed that between the end of November 2010 and the end of November 2012 there were around 400 vehicle repair incidents on city roads caused by potholes.

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 £5.3m permanent patching programme, focusing on potholes on our busiest roads, has also helped to reduce the number of public liability claims to fall by 36% between 2012 and 2013, showing the immediate positive impact targeted investment can make."

caroline.wilson@eveningtimes.co.uk