The contractor used by Hertfordshire County Council to maintain and repair the county’s highways has been fined more than £1 million for poor work.

Ringway has been issued penalties that total £1,074,052 in a four year period stretching from October 2012 until April this year.

Further fines of at least £43,000 have been issued so far this year so the final total will not be known until the end of the financial year next April.

During that time, Ringway has received £158 million in taxpayers’ money to undertake road repairs, maintenance, and safety improvements.

The figures were revealed following an investigation by Hertfordshire county councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst.

“Whilst in percentage terms the £1 million in fines or deductions for failing to carry out work is not large, a million pounds is a lot of hard cash,” he said.

“And this relates to only the strict penalties contained in the original contract, mainly not dealing with emergency repairs in time, and not getting the right road closure permits. It does not cover all sub-standard works.

“Frankly I am disappointed and staggered at the amounts involved here. Whist there have been some improvements in performance in the last year, Ringway was still fined over £275,000 in 2015/16.”

These figures, claim Liberal Democrats at the council, show the complacency of the Conservatives over the last four years. 

"Fining Ringway is all well and good but surely the work should be done correctly and on time,” added Cllr Giles-Medhurst.

“The financial penalties do not take into account the inconvenience and upset caused to residents and it's time we overhauled the whole system to get a better deal and better value for money."

Ringway refused to comment.

Terry Douris, responsible for highways at Hertfordshire County Council, said: “We are committed to working with our partners at Ringway to keep the county’s highways in the best condition and deliver excellent value for money for Hertfordshire residents.

“The contract we have with Ringway requires them to meet certain performance targets around response times and quality of work. Where our contractors fall short of our high expectations we make sure they are held to account and cash deductions are made from their annual fee.

“This means in practice that Ringway have a strong incentive to meet the high standards we require and that we monitor their performance carefully to protect the public purse. I am encouraged to see fewer deductions which represent an improvement in the service.”