Water giants escape £10k a day fines for causing roads chaos

UTILITY companies and Virgin Media have escaped with paltry fines for causing traffic chaos by allowing works to overrun, new figures reveal.

Councils have the power to impose fines of up to £10,000 a day but are often charging firms only a fraction of the maximum penalty.

Now motoring campaigners are demanding that local authorities clamp down on those firms that bring gridlock and distress to drivers by failing to complete works on time.

The level of fines councils can impose ranges from a maximum of £10,000 a day on busy streets to £250 a day for quieter roads.

But some councils are issuing penalties that fall far short of the legal maximum, according to figures released under Freedom of Information requests.

Virgin Media was fined just £1,925 by North Somerset Council’s for a 24- day overrun on laying broadband cables in the town of Congresbury. At £80 a day, it was less than a third of the maximum charge. Water com- pany Severn Trent was charged only £217 per working day for overrunning works on a busy A- road in Leicester. Work on part of the A426 in 2017 was delayed by 100 days.

And North Yorkshire Council revealed that Yorkshire Water was given a penalty far below the maximum, receiving a fine of just £21,125 for a 224-day overrun on works in Ampleforth.

AA president Edmund King said: ‘How often do we see that empty trench, with temporary lights, and not a worker in sight? How often is that skip taking up a lane of traffic?

‘We really need to get smarter about avoiding congestion due to overrunning roadworks.’