Anger as Ludlow roadworks are being shut down
Roadworks in Ludlow that have over-run will have to be completed in a second session later in the year, much to residents' annoyance.
National Grid Gas contractor Balfour Beatty will incur fines for work that was supposed to finish on May 30 after running over due to "engineering difficulties" on Ludlow's Quarry Gardens, Shropshire Council has said.
But residents questioned a decision for workers to pack up and and come back for more weeks of work in August, rather than just staying and finishing the job.
Phil Saunders, 53, who works for a Ludlow-based engineering company, said: "Why they're not being allowed to finish the job in hand is just nonsensical.
"Surely it must make more sense for them to complete the work before moving on, only to return at a later date and create the same problem again."
However, Jane Taylor, speaking for National Grid Gas, said it was necessary due to the risk of encroaching on the town's tourist season.
She said: "We are closing down the job in Quarry Gardens until later in the year to clear the way for the various events taking place in the town over the summer.
"We are hoping to return sometime around late August to complete the work.
"It will take around three weeks to finish the job.
"The work we are doing is replacing an old metal gas main with new plastic pipe.
"The old main has reached the end of its working life and the new pipe is needed to make sure the gas supply to residents in the area is safe and reliable."
Richard Ealey, Shropshire Council's network manager, said that the authority was allowed to levy charges for "prolonged occupation of the highway on utility companies when their jobs take longer on site than is reasonable".
Charges will kick in from when the works restart, he said, but the authority has told National Grid Gas it would have preferred the contractors to stay and complete the job in one go.
He said: "In this instance, not only did the National Grid Gas contractor fail to follow the legal process for asking for additional time, but their choice to leave site and return at a later date will increase the time on site and therefore the disruption felt by residents will be greater – which is something Shropshire Council have discussed with National Grid Gas and requested they reconsider.
"I have spoken with the engineer just, and he has informed me that they will be shutting the site down due to engineering difficulties that they have encountered on site, and from what I can understand they are unsure at this point how to resolve them.
"They have said that if they had stayed on site the works may have gone on longer than the extension that they had already requested, which was currently June 17, and it would hopefully be the best option to shut down and re-plan," he said.
