The pothole big enough to take a bath in
A motorist was left stunned after he damaged his car driving into a massive pothole “big enough to have a bath in” on a Scottish Highlands road. Nick Watson summed up the worrying state of disrepair of Scotland’s roads as broadband firm Openreach was fined £50,000 for bungled roadworks – its third penalty in six years.
Broadband firm Openreach has been fined the maximum £50,000 by the Scottish Road Works Commissioner for botched roadworks – its third penalty in six years.
Angus Carmichael said he was “extremely disappointed” the firm’s performance had got worse in 2015 despite being fined a total of £68,500 in 2012 and 2014.
It came despite Openreach insisting after being fined £38,500 in 2012 that it was increasing efforts “to ensure work meets or exceeds the necessary standards”.
The commissioner also fined Virgin Media £16,000, Telefonica £8,000, Vodafone £8,000 and Energetics £1,500.
He estimated the five were responsible for a “completely unacceptable” total of 12,229 botched roadworks in 2015.
The companies failed to fill in holes properly after laying pipes and cables.
Ministers plan to “embolden” the commissioner’s powers and maximum fines could be doubled to £100,000.
Mr Carmichael said: “Failed reinstatements reduce the life of the road, leading to further road works to replace the failed sections, additional costs to roads authorities and unnecessary disruption and inconvenience to road users.
“I am extremely disappointed that the performance of a number of utility companies has declined.
“Despite engagement with senior management in Openreach, performance has deteriorated from a pass rate of 72 per cent to 69 per cent.
“Virgin Media, who were penalised at a failure rate of 63 per cent in 2012, improved their performance significantly to 86 per cent in 2014, but have fallen to 76 per cent in the latest programme.
“The performance of Vodafone, Telefonica and Energetics is also unacceptable and in need of early improvement.”
Mr Carmichael said by comparison, major water, gas and electricity firms achieved pass rates of around 90 per cent.
Neil Greig, the Scottishbased policy and research director of motoring group IAM Roadsmart, said: “We are worried an upward trend in fines really means a downward trend in standards creating long-term problems under our road surfaces.
“We also want to ensure mistakes made today will still be the responsibility of those who made them ten years down the line when the cost of repairs are much higher.”
An Openreach spokesperson said: “We’re sorry our roadworks haven’t been up to scratch. We’re putting actions in place with all our operational teams and suppliers to make sure we deliver better results.”
Motorist Nick Watson captured the worrying disrepair of Scotland’s roads after he damaged his car driving into a massive pot hole near Bridge of Orchy in the Scottish Highlands. The Newcastle driver had a picture taken sitting in the pothole, which he said was “big enough to have a bath in”.