Work on Norfolk's roads overran by equivalent of FIVE years as council nets hundreds of thousands in fines

Norfolk County Council netted nearly half a million pounds from work on Norfolk's roads last year, after slapping fines on companies for getting behind schedule. 

It also earned almost £400k through charging companies for other breaches of permit conditions. 

FINES FOR WORKS THAT OVERRAN 

The council has revealed it collected almost £479,000 in fines because work by utilities companies at more than 300 sites took longer than the organisations had permits for.

Collectively these companies overran for a whopping 1,771 days - equivalent to almost five years.

If companies fail to complete work on time the county council has the power to charge a daily fine of between £250 to £10,000.

The figures relate to what are known as streetworks - planned, permitted work on roads done by utilities companies such as telecoms, water, gas and electricity companies.

Such work can include road or lane closures and traffic management, such as traffic lights.

The figures do not include what are legally known as roadworks, which is work promoted by the county council as a highway authority, such as road improvement schemes.

PENALTIES FOR PERMIT BREACHES 

The council operates a permit system for streetworks. As well as receiving £1.2m in fees for the granting of streetworks permits, it also received a further £380,000 from fines last year for permit breaches by utility companies.

Such breaches include working without a permit or not meeting conditions, such as traffic management requirements.

COUNCIL TAKES ACTION 

The council has taken companies which failed to meet permit conditions to court, and warned others could follow suit.

A county council report states: "Earlier this year a prosecution was brought against a utility working in Norwich whose works were found to be unsafe on several occasions.

"The court gave fines totalling nearly £40,000.

"Another utility was also found to have numerous poorly signed and guarded works and despite the council's efforts, the utility would not engage in discussions to improve.

"This resulted in our successful prosecution of 14 individual works."

Council officers have said they are prepared to take more enforcement action against organisations.

In a report which will come before members of the council's cross-party scrutiny committee on October 28, they state: "This may result in a high volume of prosecutions being taken forward this financial year."