BT ordered to pay £19,000 for Shrewsbury roadworks safety offences by 'maverick crew'

At Telford Magistrates Court on Friday, the telecoms giant was fined £11,500 after admitting seven offences relating to the unsafe implementation of traffic management measures.

In a prosecution bought by Shropshire Council, the company was also ordered to pay costs of £6,194 and a victim surcharge of £2,000 – a total of £19,694.

The charges relate to work on Sundorne Road in Shrewsbury on June 22, 2022.

The work, carried out by BT’s sub-contractors, failed to have appropriate permits and breached several safety requirements.

In mitigation, BT said the workers were a "maverick crew" and had been dropped since the offences were committed.

The seven offences included failing to give notice of work starting and failing to adequately sign, light and guard part of Sundorne Road as well as failing to make the site safe when instructed to do so.

Chris Schofield, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for planning and regulatory services, said: “We hope this prosecution serves as a warning to all utility companies, and reassures road users and local people that we will take action against companies that break the law.

“Shropshire Council is responsible for regulating work taking place on our network of roads, and any avoidable breaches that disrupt the flow of traffic, the safety of the network or the safety of the public are taken extremely seriously, as this prosecution shows.”