Part VIII Interference and Damage

Roadside dangers

94 Power to fill in roadside ditches etc.

1

If it appears to the roads authority that a ditch on land adjoining or lying near to a public road constitutes a danger to road users, the authority may—

C1a

if they consider the ditch unnecessary for drainage purposes and the owner and every occupier of the land known to the authority agree in writing that it is unnecessary for those purposes, fill it in; or

b

place in the ditch or in land adjoining or lying near to it, such pipes as they consider necessary in substitution for the ditch, and thereafter fill it in.

2

If a person, without the consent of the roads authority, opens up or keeps open any ditch which has been filled in under subsection (1) above, the authority may carry out any work of reinstatement or repair necessitated by his action and may recover from him the expenses reasonably incurred in so doing; and without prejudice to their right to exercise that power, the person commits an offence.

3

In this section—

  • “ditch” includes a gutter or watercourse and any part of a ditch;

  • “pipes” includes culverts, tunnels and other works; and

  • “public road” includes a proposed public road.