Stone drivers are being reminded to respect road closures and highways workers as Staffordshire County Council says abuse and dangerous behaviour towards repair crews will not be tolerated.
The warning comes as the council’s road repair season gets under way across Staffordshire, with crews working on schemes across the county.
Staffordshire County Council said its highways contractor, Amey, has recorded 76 incidents since the beginning of the year involving vehicles flouting restrictions and abuse of roadworkers.
Incidents have included drivers ignoring road closed signs, carrying out dangerous manoeuvres, and mounting pavements to squeeze past roadworks.
In the most recent incident, the council said a member of a road crew fell after being clipped by a car. The worker was then threatened by the driver after the vehicle went through closure barriers.
Last year, a scheme in Tamworth had to be paused for several days after crews experienced aggressive and threatening behaviour from a member of the public.
The county council said bodycams are now being worn by highway workers and vehicles are fitted with dashcams to record incidents. Footage can then be passed to police for further investigation.
For Stone residents, the message applies to local roadworks and county council repair schemes on roads in and around the town, where closures, temporary traffic lights and diversions may be in place.
Peter Mason, Staffordshire County Council cabinet member for strategic highways, said
“While we understand roadworks can be frustrating for motorists there is no excuse for abuse or threatening behaviour.
“We have had incidents of abuse which not only threatened the safety of staff, but also caused unnecessary delays to schemes.
“This will not be tolerated and we want to make it clear that incidents will be reported to the police, and we will support the police, Amey and all individuals affected to ensure action is taken against offenders.
“No-one deserves to be abused at work. The safety of our road crews always comes first.”
