MOTORISTS who ignore traffic restrictions will be taken to court and fined. The police have issued the warning following recent complaints from road workers about dangerous and abusive drivers.

Motorists who fail to obey temporary signs will be given a fixed-penalty ticket or face prosecution and a £200 fine.

Chief Inspector Ruari Hardy said the force would be working closely with other agencies to crack down on the problem.

‘The issue is the people working at these places being injured. If staff are put at risk, we will certainly be supporting them and looking to prosecute wherever possible,’ he said.

‘Obviously we accept that temporary road traffic restrictions inconvenience people, but they are there for a reason and they carry the same legal power as permanent signs.

‘We have had quite a few reports, particularly from the site at Ville au Roi, where drivers have ignored signs and it has caused problems.’

Ronez staff have complained about motorists disregarding restrictions and hurling abuse.

Contract manager Simon Van Der Tang said people drive the wrong way through roadworks and only narrowly avoid workers.

‘When we try to stop and explain things to motorists, we often just get ignored or a load of abusive language,’ he said.

‘If a road is closed and we are working on a footpath, we have to provide a temporary walkway for pedestrians and drivers show absolutely no consideration for their safety.

‘At one site, someone turned the signs around overnight and when the workmen started the next day, there was traffic driving right at them.

‘We get occasional problems with vandals who think it’s funny to remove road signs and put them somewhere else.

‘One case involved traffic being directed the wrong way up a one-way street. It was incredibly dangerous, as drivers would not have expected to see a car coming in the opposite direction.’

The Environment Department holds monthly roadwork coordination meetings with all the utilities, main contractors and the Public Services Department.

One of the items on the agenda in the past has been safety being compromised by people ignoring road-closed signs.