A SOUTH Essex MP is reviving his campaign to “can the cones” and bring in charges for slow roadworks after claiming the county is “one of Britain’s most dug-up areas”.

Mark Francois, Tory MP for Rayleigh and Wickford, is calling for councils to have the power to charge a lane rental fee to utilities firms, because in many cases there “is a lack of any palpable sense of urgency whatever to get the job done”.

He has also suggested authorities should be able to refuse roadworks if they would cause “unacceptable disruption” to motorists.

Mr Francois told the Commons his county was “the most dug-up county in Britain” three years ago, after a Freedom of Information request identified Essex as the roadworks capital of the UK, with 77,423 cases in a year.

Speaking at the House of Commons on Monday, he said: “Roadworks can take place for a variety of reasons. Sometimes utility companies are carrying out repairs or maintenance, or broadband providers laying new fibre, or property developers connecting new estates to the energy grid.

“In many cases, however, the common denominator is a lack of any palpable sense of urgency whatever to get the job done, regardless of the inconvenience which is caused to the travelling public.”

Introducing the Roadworks (Regulation) Bill, using the Ten Minute Rule, Mr Francois said his proposal would “give local highways authorities stronger powers to control the granting of permits to anyone who wanted to dig up the highway network”.

He said “the Bill would allow refusal on the grounds of causing unacceptable disruption and would materially strengthen the hand of councils to negotiate much tighter conditions, including stricter deadlines, when granting permits so that companies would hopefully be prevented from overrunning in the first place”.

On penalties, Mr Francois pointed to existing fines for companies responsible for overrunning roadworks, of a maximum £5,000 a day for the first three days on the most traffic-sensitive streets, followed by £10,000 a day.

“They are hardly likely to be a deterrent to major utility companies or housing developers, some of whom just accept them as a cost of doing business,” he said.

“The Bill would significantly increase the penalties for overrunning beyond the schedule agreed.

“Persistent offenders could be fined up to 10 per cent of their annual corporate turnover which should make even the most high-handed company sit up and listen.

The Bill, which Mr Francois tried to introduce during the last Parliament, will come before MPs again on July 11 next year.