Two companies have been fined £11,000 after admitting responsibility for unauthorised roadworks which caused traffic misery for thousands of drivers on one of the area’s busiest commuter routes.

Virgin Media and its contractor McNicholas were taken to court last month by a furious Transport for London (TfL) in response to breaches of permit conditions and causing a danger to London’s road users.

The charges followed an incident reported on by getwestlondon back in February when the five lane width of the A316 Chertsey Road, near Hospital Bridge Roundabout in Whitton was dug up.

TfL had given permission for the overnight works to take place but stipulated only one lane at a time be excavated to avoid traffic chaos.

Instead, the companies attempted to get the work done all in one night and when they failed to finish on time laid plating over the trench which TfL at the time said ‘was so weak and unsafe for traffic it appeared to bow under the weight of a single police officer.’

As a result tailbacks were reported as far as the A3 and angry motorists took to social networks to rail against the workers.

Westminster Magistrate’s Court fined Virgin Media and McNicholas the maximum total of £6,500 after the former admitted two charges relating to unsafe working practices and breaching permit conditions and the latter a single charge of breaching permit conditions.

They were further ordered to pay the legal costs of £5,040, bringing the total to £11,705.

The judge in the case was said to have been ‘horrified by the sloppiness of the works, and the danger and severe disruption that they caused’.

The legal action comes hot on the heels of another case last month in which TfL successfully prosecuted Virgin Media for five offences on Croydon Road in the London Borough of Sutton, including unsafe working practices and permit breaches.

Leon Daniels, Managing Director of Surface Transport at TfL, said: “In a frustrating case of déjà vu, this is the second successful prosecution of Virgin Media in as many months.

“Utility companies must ensure that any disruption caused by roadworks is minimised and the most stringent safety is upheld. As we have demonstrated time and time again, we will prosecute those who flout this.”

Steven McNicholas, safety and sustainability director for McNicholas, said after the case: "McNicholas has taken the comments made by the Judge and TfL most seriously and wish to extend again a sincere apology to both road users and the authorities for the disruption and inconvenience caused by the incident. We’ve conducted a thorough investigation into the root causes of the incident and have cooperated fully with all authorities to ensure adjustments have been made to our processes and policy to make sure this type of incident does not re-occur.”

As of April 2013, firms undertaking work anywhere in London have to apply for a permit before they can begin digging up the roads thanks to the London Permit Scheme.

London’s Lane Rental Scheme, launched by the Mayor of London and TfL on 11 June 2012, reduces road users delays by encouraging utility companies to avoid digging up the busiest roads at peak traffic times.

Since then, there has been over a 50 per cent reduction in peak-time utility roadworks at traffic hotspots.

Last year, TfL successfully prosecuted Thames Water for nine road works offences and Cable & Wireless for one offence of working in breach of permit conditions and causing significant road disruption as a result.

Since the beginning of the London Permit Scheme, TfL has issued Virgin Media a total of 323 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) for various streetworks offences.