Phone and utility companies have been paying councils an increasing amount of fines for failing to complete roadworks on time, an investigation by The Times has found.

It is estimated that four million holes are dug in Britain’s streets each year. Companies such as BT, EDF Energy and Thames Water can be fined up to £2,000 a day for taking longer than agreed to complete individual works.

The Times contacted the 50 largest councils in England and Wales and the London councils not included in that list. Fifty-one responded but some were reluctant to divulge their figures. The total fines added up to more than £14 million in two years, with a year-on-year increase of nearly 7 per cent.

Jim Harker, the transport spokesman for the Local Government Association, said: “Councils must ensure essential works are carried out as quickly and efficiently as possible. Any money raised from utility company fines is invested in improving transport services for local people.”

Before carrying out maintenance – such as installing optical fibre cables or replacing Victorian water and sewerage mains – companies must to agree a timetable with councils.

If the deadline is not met, councils can issue penalty charges under the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991. Fines vary from £100 to £2,000 a day, depending on the disruption caused.

Of the councils that responded to the Times survey, Enfield levied the most fines – £582,650 in 2006-07. More than half of this was collected from National Grid gas. Islington collected nearly £500,000 for overruns in 2005-06 but only £60,000 last year.

Companies complain that information on streetworks is collated in a number of different ways, making it difficult to ascertain what pipes and cables lie under each patch. A spokesman for BT Openreach said: “These timetables depend on all sorts of things – some within the contractor’s scope, some not. Some things are beyond our reasonable control.”

A spokesman for the National Joint Utilities Group said: “Every effort is being made by members to minimise disruption. Measures include advance coordination of works and new technologies to reduce the excavation size and durations of works.”

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