Water company fined after road closure overran

Severn Trent Water has been ordered to pay more than £8,000 after a road closure in Shrewsbury overran into peak hours.

Severn Trent Water was fined after a closure on Ellesmere Road, where it was working to install a water main, remained outside permitted times.

The road closure was required to be removed by 6am, but remained in place until 9.30am, which Shropshire Council said caused disruption to commuters and residents and led to a number of complaints.

Severn Trent pleaded guilty to offences under the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 and Traffic Management Permit Scheme (England) Regulations 2007.

The company was fined a total of £4,000 for the offences and ordered to pay £4476.76 costs and a £170 victim surcharge.

Steve Davenport, Shropshire Council’s cabinet member for highways and parking, said: “This extended road closure during morning peak traffic hours caused severe disruption and generated a large number of complaints. Shropshire Council is responsible for regulating works taking place on our network of roads and any avoidable breaches that disrupt the flow of traffic and safety of the network are taken extremely seriously, as this prosecution shows.”

A Severn Trent spokesperson said: “We’d like to apologise for our work on Ellesmere Road overrunning. We had an issue with reopening the road as temporary traffic lights weren’t available but we know that we should have done better for our customers.”

 

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