BT has been ordered to pay more than £6,500 after it failed to ensure adequate safety measures were in place at two sets of roadworks in west Cumbria.

Representatives of British Telecommunications PLC, of Newgate Street, London, appeared at West Cumbria Magistrates Court in Workington to face two charges under the New Road and Street Works Act 1991.

The court heard one charge related to work on Eaglesfield Street in Maryport in June last year, and the other to Pardshaw in July.

In each case, the court was told, the company had failed to ensure the roadworks were adequately lit and guarded, failed to ensure necessary road signs were in place and failed to have regard for people with disabilities.

The company admitted both offences and was fined a total of £5,000 and told to pay costs of £1,340.21 and a £170 surcharge.