By Philip Corrigan & Joseph Wilkes A driver has won a whopping £46k payout from his local city council after his car hit a monstrous pothole. It comes as almost 1,000 motorists lodged successful claims against the authority – highlighting a “country-wide issue”. Over four years, Stoke-on-Trent City Council faced 1,308 compensation claims for vehicle damage caused by potholes, with 978 proving successful. The council has been forced to cough up £371,914 in compensation over this period, according to figures released following a Freedom of Information request. Alarmingly, the number of successfu…