A NEW way of charging drivers if lamp posts are damaged or knocked down as a result of road collisions has been introduced.

Cheshire County Council has brought in the policy following a study aimed at speeding up bills after a crash from between 6-12 months to one month.

Charges usually range between £800 and £1,800.

Highways and Transportation executive member, County Cllr Eveleigh Moore-Dutton, agreed at a meeting today to introduce the policy and is recommending its adoption to Cheshire West and Chester Council.

She said: “On average a lamp post is knocked down every day in Cheshire and in fact during last week’s bad weather, ten were knocked down in just three days.

“Previously we would wait to collate the bills from our contractor BAM Nuttall and the electricity company involved.

“Now we know the rates for the job and are able to issue the bills a month after a lamp post has been damaged or knocked down.

“This streamlined system means that insurance companies are notified by the driver involved at a much earlier stage than previously, which is good news for our council tax payers who unfortunately pick up the bill if it cannot be proved who was to blame for the damage.”