Families living on ‘Britain’s most dug-up street’ have revealed their lives are being blighted by midnight road works – with some neighbours even moving house to escape the chaos.
Ford Hill in Plymouth was excavated more than 20 times last year – the equivalent of once every two weeks – causing ‘carnage’ for locals, according to data supplied by the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT).
Angry residents say they have endured sleepless nights in the last year with works sometimes running into the early hours.
A 68-year-old resident told MailOnline endless roadworks on the sloping Devon street had made life unbearable.
He said: ‘It’s absolutely ridiculous. Sometimes they are here twice a week to dig up the road.
‘Every night it keeps me awake, it goes on until midnight, how can they expect people to live like that?
‘They dug the same spot up six times trying to find a water leak, I understand it’s a busty road with pipes running under it and I wouldn’t mind if it was once but digging the same spot six times is ridiculous.
‘I bet somebody got paid every time they had to come back.’
Ford Hill in Plymouth was excavated more than 20 times last year – the equivalent of once every two weeks – causing ‘carnage’ for locals
Rob Hobbs, who owns a fishing bait and tackle shop on the road, said some his neighbours have moved out because they’ve had enough of the constant roadworks
Plymouth City Council laid the blame for the frequency of works on the utility companies
Roadworks took place six times in April alone last year so repairs could be carried out on leaky pipes and to clear blockages.
Bus driver Alan Yule, 50, who has lived on the street for 15 years said: ‘The infrastructure in Plymouth is rubbish.
‘Every time they dig up the road parking is affected, we have to park three streets over and that means your parking in front of other people’s houses.
‘When they were resurfacing the road there was a lot of noise but it needed doing because before that there was a pothole that took out three cars.
‘I wish the council and the water company and the gas would do things at the same time to minimise the issue but nobody talks to one another.’
Rob Hobbs, who owns a fishing bait and tackle shop on the road, said: ‘It doesn’t surprise me that it’s the most dug-up street in Britain.
‘There were some gas works here last week. Some people across the road have moved out, they’d had enough.
‘The parking is always a real issue around here because of the school and how close we are to Devonport (Plymouth’s naval base) but if those roadworks had one on without double yellow lines it would’ve been major chaos.’
A 68-year-old resident told MailOnline endless roadworks on the sloping Devon street had made life unbearable
Mr Hobbs said ‘the parking is always a real issue around here because of the school and how close we are to Devonport (Plymouth’s naval base)’
Howard Lyons, 55, described the situation as ‘carnage’ when the roads are closed with noisy machinery being heard late into the night.
‘There’s nowhere to park for families, especially people with disabilities, it’s difficult for them to get to their houses,’ he told The Telegraph.
Plymouth City Council laid the blame for the frequency of works on the utility companies.
The local authority said it was only responsible for three of the 22 works, with South West Water requesting permits 15 times to repair burst pipes and mains leaks.
A council spokesman said: ‘While everyone always likes to blame their local council for digging up roads, we need to be clear that the vast majority of the works on Ford Hill have not been carried out by the local authority.’
Edmund King, president of the AA, said it would make more sense for the works to be co-ordinated with the repeated resurfacing causing trench defects that can damage people’s motors and injure cyclists.
He said: ‘This number of roadwork holes dug in one section of road must be a new record and incredibly inconvenient for local residents and all road users.’
The CPT said: ‘Some of the closures have been on an emergency basis, with inadequate signage, resulting in buses having to reverse uphill onto a busy road with limited visibility.’
Roadworks took place six times in April alone last year so repairs could be carried out on leaky pipes and to clear blockages
Parliament’s Transport Committee last December launched an inquiry into the impacts of street works by utility companies.
It will investigate, among other things, the effectiveness of fines being issued to firms when they mismanage works.
Chair of the Transport Committee Ruth Cadbury said at the time the inquiry was announced: ‘There’s nothing like having your journey delayed by road works, especially when they seem to take far longer than needed to complete.
‘But often it’s excavations by utility companies rather than road maintenance that are the cause.’
