The company behind Hertfordshire’s ‘useless’ pothole reporting system should pay compensation for failures according to a prominent county councillor.

Stuart Pile, cabinet member for highways and transport, called on customer service provider Serco to refund a portion of the £200 million contract awarded last year by Hertfordshire County Council , following poor early performance statistics.

He said: "We have leaned very heavily on Serco and have received apologies, we are attempting to get the system back right again.

"We will be asking for compensation although I am not sure of the amount yet.

"Faults that were being reported were being classified wrongly which led to frustration for our residents."

The call comes the same week as The Watford Observer can reveal that four members of Hertfordshire County Council ’s cabinet have been treated to meals at the Conservative Party Conference by Serco.

Council leader Robert Gordon, deputy leader David Lloyd, Derrick Ashley, portfolio holder for transport, performance and waste and Chris Hayward , portfolio holder for localism and libraries have all admitted receiving hospitality from Serco between 2005 and 2012.

Councillor Hayward said of the hospitality: "It was an entirely innocent meal, Serco hosted me at a local government awards dinner, they had a table and invited a number of county councils to go along.

"We did not discuss Serco’s performance on that particular occasion, it wouldn’t have been appropriate to do so, those discussions take place in County Hall."

Councillors Gordon, Lloyd and Ashley could not be reached for comment about the hospitality.

The much-maligned fault reporting system was introduced earlier this year but repeated technical faults have led to frustration for users.

Recent statistics show the number of potholes in Three Rivers repaired within target time has declined from 94% in November 2011 to 65% in April 2012.

Liberal Democrat county councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst said: "The fault reporting system is useless.

"The system is not working properly, things that were reported months ago have not been done."

But Councillor Hayward stressed that he believed issues with the system could be resolved and that Serco were the right company to do that.

He said: "My concern is more with the system than with Serco, it is too complicated for members of the public to use and understand.

"There have also been a number of technical faults associated with the reporting system and we are working with our partners to ensure we have a simple system that works.

"I still think Serco is up to the job, clearly there are some performance related issues but we are addressing these with Serco and I am confident they are the correct provider in the long term."

Serco have an eight year contract to provide IT, customer service and support services to the county council.

Simon Hoggett, a county council spokesman, said: "The decision to award any major contract for goods, works and services follows a strict EU process and is conducted in accordance with the Council's own contract regulations.

"The responsibility for such decisions is normally delegated to council officers who also run the tendering processes and closely monitor the performance of contracts.

"From time to time cabinet members accept hospitality from business partners and others.

"Both those accepted and those turned-down are declared and are available for public inspection online and at county council offices."

Serco declined to comment.