TELECOMS company BT was left with a bill of more than £7,500 after admitting four charges of carrying out unauthorised roadworks.

The company appeared before Durham City magistrates yesterday to plead guilty to four charges arising out of an incident in Claypath, in the city centre, earlier this year.

Pat Holding, for the highways authority, Durham County Council, told the court that, on April 17, a council inspector intervened to halt roadworks being carried out in the city.

The inspection discovered that sub-contractors had failed to cordon the area off correctly, with rope strung between traffic cones instead of proper barriers, making it difficult for traffic to pass freely.

Portable traffic lights were not working and a permanent bus stop had been taken out of operation without signs being installed to point passengers to an alternative.

Workers were ordered to close the site down and further inquiries found that the company had failed to provide advance notice of the work, failed to give notice that the work had started and then failed to inform the council that it had been completed.

The company accepted that it had an absolute liability for the actions of its contractors, Enterprise PLC, and sub-contractors Direct Utilities.

It admitted four breaches of regulations under the New Roads and Streets Works Act of 1991 and the Transport Act 2000.

Shaun Corry, for BT, said: "In this case, the sub-contractor let both companies down."

He added that BT managers would be seeking assurances that the contractor would heed the concerns of the highways authority.

"Unless there are assurances that there will be improvement, then the contractors contract will come under review," he said.

"The problem in this particular case is an errant team of operators at this location. All necessary signing and guarding was supplied by the sub contractor - it was on site but the operatives hadn't deployed it."

Magistrates fined BT a total of £4,500 with costs of £3,193.

Mr Corry told the court: "My client has asked me to apologise to the people of Durham for the inconvenience caused by this incident and assure the court that the appropriate steps will be taken."