A CAMPAIGN aimed at keeping roadworks disruption to a minimum has won the support of a Teesside MP.

Yesterday, Dr Ashok Kumar, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, was joined by Ruth Thompson, a director for Transco, to see how the Streetworks scheme is working in Guisborough, where Dr Kumar has a constituency office.

Transco has been carrying out road repairs in the town for the past few years, renewing old pipework.

Streetwise was launched in the region last December by the National Joint Utilities Group, and it has led to all the utilities, including Transco, signing a charter.

The charter commits them to keeping people informed about utility works and encouraging them to report sites that fail to meet the charter's standards, discussing long-term plans with the highway authorities, and making sure sites are as tidy and safe as possible.

Other parts of the charter include making sure work is completed within a certain time with the minimum environmental impact. It also says companies must try to develop and use innovative techniques to reduce disruption to the public.

Dr Kumar said: "Utilities have to work to far higher standards than ever before and are regulated by the Health and Safety Executive and by their trade bodies.

"The new schemes put forward by Transco are a model of modern utility repair and modernisation programmes to gives us high quality roadworks. It should be a model for the rest of the industry."