Hounslow Highways blamed for cutting cables in Grove Park
Residents in Park Road in Grove Park have complained that they have lost phone connections and broadband due to works being carried out on the pavements by Hounslow Highways.
The residents said say the contractors have cut through the cables and that supplies of Virgin and BT have been worst affected. They have been told the problem could take weeks to fix.
Hounslow Highways has said that often urban cabling is "too close to the surface" and if residents suspect cabling issues as a result of their footway works, "we urge them to let us know so we can repair any damage at that point.”
One resident said that they had been told by a Virgin engineer that they would need to dig up all the paving that Hounslow Highways had just laid and nothing could be done until December 6th.
"He told us that they are swamped with Hounslow residents whose connections have been severed and who are without their paid-for services, affecting whole streets and each time it means digging up work that has just been completed and all because the contractors appeared to have no sense or understanding of where cables were located," she said.
The disruption had come after weeks of having pavements and driveways redone by the Council and that several people had been affected particularly in Park Road.
Rob Gillespie, Hounslow Highways Service Director, said: “We are aware that there are some cabling issues in Park Road where we are carrying out footpath work and have been to the site to investigate on a couple of occasions. During our site visits so far we have not yet been able to make contact with the residents affected to investigate further.
“Cable and telephone services should ideally be protected in ducts under footways but unfortunately in many urban areas, this simply has not been done and the cables are laid too close to the surface.
“Although Hounslow Highways makes every effort not to disturb the cables, this is sometimes unavoidable. To help mitigate this, we work closely with the utility and cabling companies during our works and have arranged for Virgin crews to be available at all times in order to make repairs as works are carried out if necessary.
“As soon as residents suspect cabling issues as a result of our footway works, we urge them to let us know so we can repair any damage at that point.”
November 23, 2013