A new online system for reporting Highways problems, meant to be an “improvement”, has come in for sharp criticism from Hertfordshire’s Liberal Democrats. The new system, rolled out recently by Conservative-run Herts County Council, now requires a compulsory registration process, which includes a check against the electoral register.

Malcolm Cowan, the Lib Dem Resources spokesperson, commented: ”I entered the site last week and was advised to register. I registered. Then I went in again to make a fault report, I wasn’t even asked to log in.”

The lack of clarity about the new system doesn’t stop there. Malcolm added: “The map facility is now compulsory and hard to use. I now do not get an email message with the fault number, so tracking the fault in the system is going to become more difficult.”

A potentially bigger obstacle, however, is the register check when signing up to use the system. Allan Witherick, the Lib Dem Councillor for St Albans North, said: “If you don’t have a landline or you’ve ‘opted out’ of the electoral register, you can’t even register to use this system. This will exclude a whole range of different people: those who have just moved in to the area, many of those under 18, as well as those coming to work in Hertfordshire. How this is meant to be an improvement, I just don’t know!”