Commuter misery and £200,000 taxpayers' bill over Virgin Media roadworks row

Sunderland commuters are the victims of a roadworks row involving Virgin Media, which could cost the taxpayer an extra £200,000.

Fibre optic cables running under the A19/A1231 have been blamed for a three-month delay to major works at the Hylton Grange interchange in Sunderland.

Engineers asked Virgin Media and other companies to inform them whether any further work was required before starting the project.

A spokesperson for contractors URS said: "Virgin Media returned a nil response indicating that they had no services in the region.

"Once the contractor was appointed and on site, his trial holes revealed ducts that no-one would lay claim to, until Virgin Media acknowledged that they were indeed theirs.

"The obstruction was a series of fibre optic cables that have proved to be very costly and time-consuming to divert."

The roadworks, aimed at relieving traffic congestion on the Sunderland-bound A1231, have already cost the taxpayer £2.9 million, and the extra costs of the project looks likely to be met by the taxpayer-funded Highways Agency.

Virgin Media have refuted the claims that URS were not informed of the presence of the cables at the site of the works, which began in May last year and were due to finish by early December, but will now run into next month.

A Virgin Media spokesperson said: “We made our requirements clear before construction started and have been ready to start our side of the work since August last year.

Other aspects of the build need to be finished before we can go on site and we will begin our work as soon as these are complete.”

The company claim to have tried to complete their works three times. However, drainage and street lighting are among the issues which Virgin Media claim have prevented them from diverting the cables.

Virgin Media maintain they did advise the roadworks planning team of their requirements ahead of the project – and have been ready to complete their side of the work – diverting the cables - since August 2014.

A spokesperson for the Highways Agency said: “Highways Agency works closely with contractors and others to try and ensure all works are planned correctly and are delivered at the best value possible.

On occasions where works overrun for whatever reason we do our best to ensure that all those affected are given clear and detailed updates."

The spokesperson for URS added: "Final costs are not yet known as the works are not complete, but will be in excess of £200,000. Virgin Media will not be responsible for any part of the works.

The roadworks are expected to be completed in March.