Gas, electricity and water companies must improve the quality of their roadworks, says Kirklees Council.

The authority is to serve notices on all utility companies except cable company ntl demanding higher standards after one in five roadworks were deemed unsatisfactory.

Kirklees Council officers make spot checks during work and after completion.

An average of 21 per cent of works failed the required standard during the last 18 months - for reasons ranging from posing a hazard to pedestrians and drivers to leaving the road rutted and bumpy.

ntl, formerly CableTel, had a failure rate of 70 per cent in 1995.

It has undergone the biggest improvement and now fails 11 per cent of checks.

Under Government legislation an improvement notice can be served on any company which fails more than 10 per cent of inspections over a three-month period.

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