ACCIDENT claims against Bolton Council last year could top £12 million.

Officers are anticipating the total amount of "slipping and tripping" claims for 2002 to be three times the £4m for the previous year.

Bolton Council has now joined with other authorities across the North West to form a new agency to tackle the problem. It is being blamed on the emergence of 'no-win, no-fee' law firms and a US style claims culture.

Officers have revealed that a seminar was recently held at the Reebok Stadium to look at the best ways of fighting claims and that more meetings are planned for the future.

It cost the council almost £1 million to cover the bill for the 1,200 people who launched litigation claims in 2001.

Half this figure went on rising premiums for an insurance policy which pays out whenever a successful claim exceeds £100,000.

Tory Cllr Stuart Lever, of the Astley Bridge ward, described the situation as "litigation gone mad".

He said: "We live in a compensation culture and the only winners are the solicitors. People think they are being so clever claiming for this and that but everybody is suffering as a result.

"It is pushing insurance premiums and Council Tax up because this money has got to come from somewhere."

Graham Rhodes, risk manager at Bolton Council's finance department, said it was difficult to assess the true figure because claims could be submitted up to five years after an accident.

But he warned that only about 30 per cent of claims were successful and that fraudulent applicants were always prosecuted.

Mr Rhodes said: "The money we are having to pay out comes directly from other services. We do not try to turn down claims when we are liable but we are taking action to minimise the impact of fraudulent claims.

"Unfortunately, it would take an enormous amount of money to make every street and road as safe as we would like it to be."

Jeff Layer, assistant director of highways and engineering, said he was confident that the combined effort was proving effective in rebutting dishonest claims.

It is estimated that 10 per cent of all claims against the public sector are fraudulent with statistics suggesting that UK local authorities are losing an average of £250,000 per annum to frivolous claimants.

Barbara Cotton, North West chairman, of ALARM, the national forum of risk management in the public sector, said: "We all need to work together to allocate resources to combat unmeritorious claims."