A MOTORIST who is sick of delays caused by cable laying, says the community should be compensated for the hold-ups.

Ronald Lowe, of St Johns Road, Hazlemere, says that at busy times as many as 200 cars are held up at Hazlemere crossroads where Cable and Wireless are digging up the road to lay new cables.

He claimed that if the delays were calculated at £4 an hour, the cost to Hazlemere and surrounding communities would be £80,000 to £100,000 per month.

Mr Lowe said: "I am held up regularly at this bottleneck, as the road I live on leaves Amersham Road just a few yards from the C&W work-sites.

"I have therefore regularly timed the delay. The delay is rarely less than six minutes, and often over eight. The queues start at 7.30am and go on for a full 12 hours.

"No fee or recompense of any kind appears to be payable by the cable company.

"Unlike the disruption caused by the water, sewage, electricity companies, whose services are vital to all, the chaos caused by the cable-laying operations has to be endured by people who are, by and large, not direct C&W customers."

David Thain, a spokesman for Cable and Wireless, said: "As the law stands as long as we keep within the local authority guidelines no organisation is liable to pay compensation.

"If he is an internet user the possibility is that the end result will be faster access times to some of his favourite sites so there is a benefit to the community."