Utility firms' delays spark more than 500 council fines

Council chiefs brought in the 120 penalties in 2008, as part of a range of measures to bring companies to book for failing to get projects finished on time.

A total of 530 were handed out between January and September, an average of around two a day.

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But there was criticism today that the relatively small sums would fail to deter companies which rake in millions in profits.

The council said the worst offender was Scottish Water, which picked up 261 fines totalling 31,320.

Scottish Power came next with 128 penalty notices, the equivalent of 15,360.

Neil Greig, a spokesman for the Institute of Advanced Motorists, praised the council, but said the companies were unlikely to be put off from offending due to the size of the sums involved.

He also said Scottish local authorities may be forced to follow their English counterparts, with the Department for Transport recently announcing plans for penalties of up to 25,000 a day.

He said: "These lower levels of fines are not going to cause much of a problem for these major firms, but the system is a good one.

"Hitting them in the pocket is ultimately the best way to do it, but putting out a lot of smaller fines is not going to have a great impact.

"What we want is to see these utility firms fixing roads quickly and to a high standard.

"If they continue to be slow, then the roadworks commissioner will perhaps be forced to look at these higher fines, but it will be the consumer that ends up paying for them through higher utility charges."

The fines were introduced as part of a range of new measures, which could see the most serious offenders end up being referred to the Scottish roadworks commissioner, who can impose penalties of up to 50,000.

Councillor Robert Aldridge, the city's environment leader, said: "The Road Works Ahead agreement is designed to improve the way in which roadworks are managed across the city, particularly with a view to keeping disruption and delay to a minimum.

"The fact that, on average, around two fines a day have been issued under the agreement comes as concrete proof the council takes its responsibility to keep Edinburgh moving seriously."

Private companies are responsible for 85 per cent of the roadworks carried out in Edinburgh.

These companies dig up the city's roads and pavements on average 31 times a day, resulting in about 27,000 holes in our roads each year.

The council spends around 300,000 a year monitoring works by utility firms, with 14 inspectors checking works or working with the utility firms on a daily basis.