A highways contractor is set to be rewarded with a five-year contract extension, despite claims of continuing poor performance from its critics.

Ringway, which repairs and maintains the county’s roads on behalf of Hertfordshire County Council, was fined more than £1 million last year because of sub-standard work carried out over a four-year period.

However, following a 12-month review of the contractor’s performance, council members were informed this week of the intention to extend the existing contract until September 2024.

The council is hoping to finalise the deal before the end of the year. However councillors will have the opportunity to scrutinise the decision at the next highways panel meeting in November.

Cllr Stephen Giles-Medhurst, leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition, said the news was “a bolt from the blue”.

"Over the past six years there has been considerable criticism and many justified complaints from residents and councillors about the poor state of our roads and pavements,” he said.

“Despite the poor performance of the highways contractor, it seems that Conservative councillors and county council officers are prepared to simply grant Ringway a further five-year contract.

“Having been the leading critic of the poor performance of Ringway and the subcontractors week in week out has resulted in some improvements but they are still not right after six years. One has to question if this is the right choice.

“There still has to be a massive improvement in efficiency, communication and service delivery before the county council should be looking at simply handing a Ringway a new contract.”

Cllr Asif Khan, a member of the council’s environment, planning and transport cabinet panel, added: “It’s disappointing that their poor record hasn’t been taken into account.

“We need to ensure we have got competency and value for money. From our perspective, residents are telling us that over the past few years it’s been a poor show.”

However Rob Smith, deputy director of highways for Hertfordshire County Council, claimed members - including opposition leaders - asked for their feedback said “service levels had improved and were continuing to improve”.

He added: “Following a full review of our Highways contracts we have taken the decision, in principle, to work with Ringway for another five years from the end of September 2019.

“We are in the early stages of agreeing the extension to this contract and believe that this is the right decision to avoid a re-procurement process which would disrupt services and incur a cost.

“As a highways authority, our contractor Ringway works for us maintaining 3.000 miles of roads in Hertfordshire, and we are confident that they will continue to improve the quality of their work, helping us ensure that we keep Hertfordshire moving and that our residents are kept safe on our roads.”