BT has been ordered to pay an £8,000 fine for dangerous roadworks
British Telecom (BT) has been told it must pay more than £8,000 for "dangerous and disruptive roadworks", in its 37th prosecution since 2010.
Transport for London prospected BT for the poorly managed roadworks, leading BT to appear before Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 22 June.
The BT offences, which took place on the Transport for London Road Network between January and March 2016 were for: unsafe executive of street works on Brixton Road; failure to serve necessary statutory works notices following the completion of work on Clapham Road; and failure to pay the Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) originally issued by TfL in response to the Clapham Road offence.
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"BT has become London’s worst roadworks offender, repeatedly disrupting Londoners with poorly planned, badly managed and sometimes dangerous roadworks," said Garrett Emmerson, TfL’s chief operating officer for surface transport.
"We are committed to keeping London’s roads as clear as possible preventing unnecessary traffic build up, which disrupts people’s daily commute and worsens air quality. We will continue to push for the toughest penalties possible for utility companies caught acting unlawfully and are pleased that BT themselves have recognised the need to improve."
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TfL has prosecuted BT for 37 previous offences since 2010. In the same time, BT has been fined £32,020 for poorly managed roadworks by TfL.
A BT spokesperson said: “We apologise to any Londoners that were inconvenienced by these street works. BT has successfully completed more than 5,000 street works on the TfL network over the last three years, but we take breaches like this very seriously.
“We’re working hard to address the issues and minimise disruption as we deliver better, broader and faster communications services to consumers and businesses throughout the capital.”