Fines for delayed roadworks 'should be tougher'

Utility companies that take too long to fill in holes they have dug on Lancashire's roads should face tougher fines, county councillors have said.

They tabled a motion asking the government to increase charges local authorities are allowed to impose on water, power and telecoms firms for overrunning roadworks.

The call comes as figures obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service reveal 37,500 sets of highway works were carried out in Lancashire in12 months.

Of those undertaken between April 2023 until March this year,189 of them overran and attracted fines totalling almost £343,000.

Separately, 1,337 fixed penalty notices were issued – amounting to £170,000 – for offences including breaches of the permit for the work or failing to obtain such permission in the first place.

Pendle councillor Ash Sutcliffe said even the phrase "temporary traffic lights" made drivers "shudder".

"We must have the power to hold companies to account and get our roads moving again as soon as possible", he said.

Under current legislation, the maximum fines for overrunning roadworks vary according to the significance of the route, from £250 to £10,000 per day.

However, they do not apply at weekends or bank holidays and the county council's lead member for highways, Scott Smith, said some permit breaches by utility companies can result in fixed penalty notices of as little as £80.

"To multibillion-pound companies… it barely even registers as petty cash and the idea that it acts as a deterrent to bad behaviour on our roads is for the birds."

The "bulk of the disruption", members were told, related to the 20% of works carried out in any one year which are classed as urgent or an emergency.

The motion, which stressed that any increase in fines must not be passed on to households in their utility bills, was passed with cross-party support.

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