SWINDON Borough Council should be commended for its efforts to minimise the disruption caused by road works.

Making utility firms co-ordinate their efforts will surely do much to reduce the chaos and misery which blights too many days for too many road users.

It is a mystery why such a measure should have to be considered in the first place, of course.

How is it that the utility companies have apparently failed to realise that co-ordinating road works would pay dividends, and not just in terms of public goodwill?

When one utility fills in a hole it has created, only for another to re-dig the same one in order to begin another project, road users suffer delays which are entirely unnecessary.

These delays lead to working hours being lost, and in turn to general economic damage.

The only problem with the council’s proposed code of conduct is that it would be voluntary. This is in no way the fault of the council, as it does not have the powers necessary to force utility firms to employ what is, after all, only common sense.

That power lies with Whitehall, and anybody expecting change to emanate from there should bear in mind the fact that utilities have some very powerful friends.

There is hope, however.

If any utility company refused to take part in the scheme, or failed to abide by its strictures, the local authority would be perfectly within its rights to announce the fact to the public at large.

The information would be invaluable to consumers deciding which firms to do business with.