Buckinghamshire Council has sent a stern warning to utility companies about their roadwork responsibilities.

This move follows a surge in permit requests amidst increased scrutiny of their management.

The council's 'Streetworks' team will now operate seven days a week to ramp up the number of inspections carried out.

In recent years, there has been a substantial rise in applications for utility works permits, greatly affecting the county’s road network.

ALSO READ: Council fines gas company after works cause 'serious disruption'

This surge has seen a concurrent increase in the number of Fixed Penalty Notices issued by the council to utility firms who have failed to abide by their permit terms.

Recently, Bucks Council fined Cadent after its emergency works caused “serious disruption” for residents in Chesham.

Angry residents took to social media to express their frustration over the five-way traffic lights on the bottom of Amersham Road A416, saying traffic in the area was gridlocked and there were queues lasting up to two hours on the town roads. 

As a result, the council decided to revoke the licence for the works, following multiple breaches of the conditions over subsequent days.

The breaches that have led to council action include incorrect permit references, inadequate traffic management and failures to remove redundant material and equipment from the worksite.

Utility companies have been put on notice about the council's new 'zero tolerance' approach and firms will receive a Fixed Penalty Notice upon the first breach.

Subsequently, any further breaches will result in the revocation of their permits.

Buckinghamshire Council is also pushing to increase fines for breaches, fixed nationally at £120, or reduced to £80 for early payment.

Steven Broadbent, Cabinet Member for Transport at Buckinghamshire Council, said: "Unfortunately, we’ve seen too many cases this year where works just haven’t been managed well enough and the inconvenience and detrimental impact of this falls onto our residents, businesses and communities. We are taking this action to make sure standards and obligations to residents are maintained.

"We have limited ability to refuse works but we do our utmost to work with firms to keep disruption to a minimum, setting out clear expectations as part of the permit process. We also think the current fine limit is totally insufficient to deter mismanagement of works.

"Overall, we know the impact of roadworks is a major issue for our residents. We also know road use and driver habits has changed since the pandemic, hence us doing a fresh review of our network to understand the current pinch-points and so we can look to programme works better around these locations.”