Drivers in Norfolk have had to put up with more than 5,800 days of disruption caused by overrunning roadworks in the past three years, new figures have revealed.
New statistics show, between 2019 and this year, investigations were conducted over roadworks which appeared to have overrun by the equivalent of a staggering 16 years.
The delays have landed the utilities companies involved almost £1.3m in fines, the figures show.
Network Rail, UK Power Networks, Cadent Gas, British Telecom and Anglian Water were among companies fined because work was not done quickly enough.
The figures were revealed through a Freedom of Information Act request to Norfolk County Council, which issues permits to utility companies for roadworks.
If companies fail to complete work on time, the council has the power to charge a daily fine of between £250 to £10,000. Councils must spend overrun charge income on implementing transport policies.
While the council revealed fines of £1.28m were paid between 2019 and 2022, the statistics do not reveal how much each company was eventually fined.
Karl Rands, highways services manager at Norfolk County Council, said the council took its responsibilities seriously.
He said: "I am pleased with the overruns we do identify and it does send a message out that we are serious about it."
Mr Rands said quarterly meetings were held with companies and regular inspections of roadworks schemes done, with separate fixed penalty notices issued if work was not being done as per agreed permits.
There is generally negotiation over final settlements, as companies offer mitigation and explanations for overruns.
For instance, the statistics show a 266 day overrun for work by BT-owned Openreach at Bergh Apton Road, in Alpington.
That fine was later withdrawn, as it turned out the 'overrun' was due to two cable drums left behind, rather than work not being finished on time.
A spokesperson for Openreach said: "In this particular case, work to install a new roadside cabinet finished in May 2019.
"However, we mistakenly left two cable drums behind but we were not notified about this until a year later, when we quickly removed them.
"This has given the impression we were working for 266 days beyond when we should have been, which is not the case.”
The details of the fines comes when people in Norwich are growing impatient over Sweet Briar Road having been shut since February, when a water main burst.
One major overrun was Network Rail's work at Eccles Heath, between Attleborough and Snetterton.
That overran by more than 250 days in 2019 and 2020, but Network Rail said it was a "unique" situation, after a bridge was damaged after a vehicle crashed into it in 2017.
A Network Rail spokesperson said: “There are times when we need to close roads in order to carry out work to improve or repair the railway lines.
"We plan our work to minimise disruption to both road and rail passengers, but there are occasions when work overruns.
"When this happens, we inform residents and we do everything we can to complete the work quickly and safely and look into what preventive measures we can take to avoid it happening again.
"I’d like to say sorry, again, to those who were affected by these previous closures.”
A spokesperson for UK Power Networks said: "In the first quarter of 2021, we identified an issue with permits overrunning that was due to delays by a third party contractor around resurfacing work after our electrical repairs were completed.
"This was resolved and so far in 2022 we have had seven permit overruns in Norfolk – each of which have been by a single day and we are continually working to improve further."
An Anglian Water spokesperson said a 72-day 'overrun' in Willbye Avenue in Diss revealed through the FOI request did not ultimately lead to a fine - as it was established a single sign had been left in place.
The spokesperson said: "Our aim is always to keep disruption to a minimum, where we can plan in advance or use innovative ‘keyhole surgery’ techniques, to avoid digging up road surfaces, we will.
"We always aim to piggy-back on other ongoing jobs and work closely with the council’s highways team so that they can coordinate this.
"Occasionally, things do overrun for various reasons not all within our control, but whenever we’re doing work, the safety of the public and our staff is our top priority, and our teams will continue to work hard to keep disruption to a minimum.”
Cadent Gas did not provide a response.
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