Andrew Westwood, head of Traffic Management at Brighton & Hove City Council said:
“Brighton & Hove City Council have a legal obligation to coordinate roadworks so that the impact is minimised on the city's roads.
“The council had little choice but to allow the roadworks at the Rottingdean junction as they were necessary to fix an urgent leak. The management of traffic and communication of the roadworks are the responsibility of the statutory undertaker, in this case Southern Water.
“The council place conditions on the approval to carry out works as was the case here. This can include manual management of traffic signals or conditions on hours of working.
“If the utility companies breach the conditions then this is taken up with them. The council have a number of inspectors that check works across the city and to make sure the conditions are adhered to and further discussions will be held with the utility company.”