A contractor faces a daily £2,000 fine from a council, after delays caused by damage to a sewer during works led to a major road closure.
Peterborough-based Burmor Construction has been carrying out civils work on Surfleet Road, Pinchbeck, Lincolnshire, to connect utilities to a new 37-home housing development.
But the works, which were due to finish on 6 March, have been delayed, with traffic needing to be diverted.
It had promised to carry out weekend work in a bid to reopen the highway quicker but inspections by Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) found “limited to no activity taking place”.
LCC initially granted the firm an extension to complete the work by 22 March.
But now Burmor has said the works will not be completed until approximately 29 March, according to the council.
As a result, the council will apply a £2,000 daily penalty from 23 March for each day the road remains closed beyond the agreed extension date.
To date (27 March), the firm faces a total fine of £10,000.
“LCC wants to be extremely clear about these issues. The county council is not granting any further extensions to Burmor Construction’s current permit,” it said in a statement.
It said that during the planning stages, officers had reviewed and challenged the contractor’s initial nine‑week programme, “raising concerns regarding limited weekend working and minimal activity allocated for the final week”.
A revised programme was subsequently agreed which addressed these issues, it said. However, due to periods of bad weather and challenges linked to an extensive dewatering system it granted the extension to 22 March.
The council said that since then further delays have occurred due to damage caused to a sewer owned by Anglian Water by the installation of a dewatering pipe.
“The required repair is understood to be complex, and Anglian Water is liaising directly with Burmor Construction regarding the necessary remediation,” the council said.
“Due to the 5.5 metre depth of excavation and its position, it is not currently possible to reopen the road using temporary traffic signals.”
LCC traffic manager Ashley Behan said he was “extremely disappointed” with the situation and promised to continue to hold Burmor Construction to account.
He also criticised the firm for failing to immediately inform the council of the damage caused to the sewer.
“We were assured that weekend working would form part of the programme. However, we have attended site on numerous weekends and found limited to no activity taking place,” he said.
“My disappointment is further compounded by the lack of timely communication regarding the damage caused to Anglian Water’s sewer – we were left to find this out by reviewing local forums’ social media posts.
“Despite being aware of the issue much earlier, Burmor Construction did not inform the County Council until a full week after the incident occurred. This is entirely unacceptable and has contributed directly to further delays and the need for Anglian Water to be on site.”
“We will continue to hold Burmor Construction to account to ensure works progress as quickly as possible to completion,” he added.
Burmor Construction has been contacted for comment.
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Nicola Harley