Cornwall Council has sanctioned telecoms company Vodafone following roadworks which caused traffic disruption caused to motorists in and around Truro on Monday.

As the repairs to a telecoms cover on the A390 at Tresillian were deemed as ‘immediate-urgent’ by Vodafone, the company and its contractor were not required to give prior notification to the Council’s Streetworks team.

When the Council was made aware of an issue, a member of CORMAC’s highways team requested the removal of the traffic lights to enable the flow of two-way traffic. The Council has since advised the contractors that two-way traffic must be maintained between 7am and 7pm while the repairs are carried out.

Andy Stevenson, Cornwall Council’s highways and drainage manager, said: ‘These works were not urgent and did not warrant the action taken by the utility company which led to significant disruption.

‘As a result, we have issued a Fixed Penalty Notice of £80 - this is the maximum sanction we are legally able to place on a statutory authority for such a breach.

‘Our Streetworks team work extremely hard to coordinate roadworks on the Council’s highway network, which is why situations like this are all the more frustrating.’