Norfolk County Council dished out nearly 3,000 fines to companies breaching roadworks regulations in 2024/25
Norfolk County Council dished out nearly 3,000 fines to companies breaching roadworks regulations last year.
The council issued more than 44,000 street and roadwork permits in 2024/25 - with utility companies and developers accounting for 75% of all works.
The authority’s role is to coordinate and manage street works across the county, although there are 74 different utility companies which have the legal right to undertake work on public highways - meaning the council’s powers remain limited under national legislation.
Of the permits issued last year, 7,000 were for unplanned emergency works, which often create the most disruption - and 5,400 were rejected as the proposals were “not acceptable”.
Cllr Graham Plant, cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport at the county council, said: “We are doing everything within our power to manage the impact of roadworks on Norfolk’s communities, but the reality is that we don’t have the authority to stop or delay many of these works.
“Utility companies have a legal right to dig up our roads, and in emergency cases, they can start work before even notifying us.
“While this lack of control makes it incredibly difficult to protect residents from disruption, we do hold third parties to account and will issue fines and reject permits when we need to.”
The council does have the power to issues fixed penalty notices (FPNs) to utility companies for breaches such as working without a permit or failing to comply with permit conditions.
In 2024/25, 2,809 FPNs were issued, generating nearly £340,000 in fines.
An additional £345,000 was collected from 306 cases where utility works overran their scheduled completion dates, resulting in 1,317 days of disruption across Norfolk’s roads.
In the last 12 months, the council has successfully prosecuted two utility companies which resulted in court-imposed fines totalling almost £100,000 - with full costs awarded to the council.
