A shamefaced Herts County Council has responded to Chris White’s criticism of its failure to complete the installation of the 20 mph zone east of Holywell Hill.

Chris said: “Controversial highways contractor Ringway encountered a detailed snag in relation to signing outside one particular house. But they failed to tell the County Council or indeed local county councillors.

“This project is already years overdue despite it being flagged as of key importance by me and my colleague Sandy Walkington. This latest fiasco shows yet again that Ringway should no longer be the main highways contractor in this county – as Liberal Democrats have pointed out repeatedly.”

He added: “They now promise that the problems will be resolved this month – but we have had promises before. We want action and competence – so it’s difficult to be optimistic with Ringway, a company which can’t even empty a blocked drain even a year after it has been reported, let alone keep a grip on pothole repairs.”