DRIVERS are facing more misery on the roads after utility companies carried out thousands of extra roadworks.

Roads across Oxfordshire were dug up 20,467 times in 2015/16, a rise of 10 per cent on 2013/14.

The figure was also up three per cent on 2014/15.

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The work has affected major roads in Oxford, with transport bosses warning taxpayers ultimately foot the bills for the "impact on the quality of road surfaces".

It has sparked calls to charge utility companies when they dig up roads, a move Oxfordshire County Council has come out in support of.

There is already an existing penalty of £5,000 per day for roadworks that overrun, but the Government is considering further measures to punish companies that "unnecessarily" cause disruption on A roads.

David Nimmo Smith, the county council's transport boss, said companies needed to do more to coordinate with work also being carried out by the local authority to avoid spoiling newly-surfaced carriageways.

He said: "Everyone understands you have to dive in quickly for emergency works, but we find it very frustrating when they come in a month after we have been there and dig up a perfectly serviceable road.

"So if a charging system was brought in, it would certainly concentrate minds – because money would be involved."

He added that examples of when utility companies could have given the council more warning included when Vodafone shut off part of the Cutteslowe Roundabout in July 2015 to move fibre optic cables ahead of work to remodel the junction.

It caused huge delays, catching motorists off guard two days before any roundabout work was supposed to start.

Mr Nimmo Smith also said Thames Water had delayed the redesign of the Kennington Roundabout in May 2014 when it stepped in to move a water main.

The number of utility works carried out in Oxfordshire was 18,677 in 2013/14. In 2014/15 this rose to 19,837 and last year it was 20,467.

In the past year, the most disruptive works have included closures on the Banbury and Botley roads in Oxford.

A county council spokesman stressed the authority would not criticise utility companies for carrying out emergency repairs, which were unavoidable.

This month it emerged Thames Water had closed part of the A338 near Wantage, but work was delayed as the company was "waiting for materials to arrive".

Oxford Mail:

Wantage motorist Jim Davies, of Adkin Way, said: "You would have thought that before starting a major roadworks programme that entails closing a main road for several weeks you would have made sure you had all the materials."

Thames Water spokeswoman Becky Trotman said: "We’re sorry if the sign is causing confusion.

"We have been working on the closed section of road since July 27 to relay 200 metres of sewer pipe, so we can assure drivers it’s definitely not shut for no reason.

"We hope to be finished on August 31 if the rest of job goes smoothly."

She added that work was purposely planned during the school holidays "when traffic flows are lighter".

But the Local Government Association has said utility companies need more incentives to reduce the time they spend on roadworks.

It says councils are "being hamstrung by a lack of effective powers to tackle this issue".

The association claims introducing a charge for utility companies to do work would give them an added incentive to finish it as quickly as possible, reducing headaches for commuters.

This could involve so-called lane rental schemes – trialled successfully in London – where companies pay a daily rate for work they do on key roads during busy periods without needing to seek approval from the Government.

The money generated through the charges could then be used to fund measures aimed at reducing future roadwork problems.

In London, the LGA says it has "significantly" reduced levels of disruption.

Lane rental can also incentivise utility companies to get the job done right the first time because they can be compelled to redo poor work and be forced to pay the charge again.

The LGA says councils spend nearly a fifth of their maintenance budgets – £220m – on tackling poorly-executed utility roadworks.

Transport spokesman Peter Box added: "While most utility companies are responsible and councils want to work with them, a minority do a poor job.

"The lane rental scheme would incentivise utility companies to do the job right first time around and help get our traffic moving again."