Scots fine Virgin and BT over slow road works

Delays in the completion to schedule of road works have resulted in both BT and Virgin Media being hit by fines by the Scottish Road Works Commissioner.

BT's Openreach access division have been slapped with a £38,500 penalty for failing to reopen roads on schedule after their work, while the cable guys at Virgin Media have been fined the lesser sum of £14,000.

Other utilities have also been fined under the rules that mean that they are liable to cough up if they fail to open 80% of roads on time after the completion of their upgrade works, which will continue to be on a large scale for Openreach as they roll out their faster broadband network.