Blunder meant road was closed for no reason
A BLUNDER between Anglian Water workers left furious motorists facing lengthy tailbacks in...even though the work had already been done.
It took two days of rush hour traffic backing up from Moulton out to Weston before the workmen to realise the error, which has been put down to "miscommunication".
Traffic lights and cones were set out along the A151 by the junction for Bell Lane by a team of workers mid-morning on Thursday.
But unbeknown to them, a separate team had already been and replaced the manhole cover and frame which was at the centre of the work.
Both teams were spotted by a reader who rang the Spalding Guardian after putting two-and-two together.
The lights were eventually taken down on Friday afternoon.
A spokesman for Lincolnshire County Council said paperwork allowed the workers to put three-way lights up until Monday, although work was expected to completed sooner.
However, it took Anglian Water five days to admit the error to the Spalding Guardian.
On Friday, a company spokeman claimed the first team had been out to do a "pre-work survey" to find out what needed to be done.
He said a specialist piece of equipment was needed to extract the broken manhole cover and frame, which was why no workmen were on site.
The traffic lights, they said, were to "protect the workforce and stop cars going into the hole".
It wasn't until yesterday the firm apolgised for the error.
"We apologise for any inconvenience the works caused," a statement said.
"Traffic lights were set up to protect workers while completing the job. However, due a miscommunication the work had already been completed. As soon this came to light the traffic lights were taken down.
"The communication process involved has been investigated to ensure that it doesn't happen again."
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Spalding
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 11 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: East
