Lib Dem Leader Chris White has called for an inquiry into how the county council managed to waste over £100,000 in a failed legal dispute over a £335 bill. Chris said: ‘Veolia raised this issue with me when I paid them a visit to discuss their performance on burst water mains. I expressed my concerns to the county council and now discover that the county council continued to waste their time and our money on this ludicrous dispute.‘I have called upon the Chief Executive to set up an inquiry into how officials felt it was appropriate to pursue a dispute to this ludicrous extent and to establish whether disciplinary action is appropriate.‘I will also be seeking a revision in procedures to make sure that this sort of thing cannot be repeated.’Chris plans to raise the matter publicly at the County Council meeting on Tuesday.

Story in Watford Observer yesterday

A £335 dispute over a broken manhole cover in Rickmansworth High Street could cost Hertfordshire County Council more than £110,000 in legal costs following a High Court ruling. Deputy Judge Alison Hampton explained today that these were some of the highest costs she had ever seen in a case of similar, seemingly trivial, value.The extraordinary dispute erupted in July 2007 when the council attempted to bill utilities company Veolia Water for placing two cones and some tape over the hole, when shoppers began tripping over its cover. When this figure was disputed legal action was started – ending, eventually, in the court hearing today.While the final legal bills are yet to be assessed, Judge Hampton ordered the council to pay the bulk of the total chalked-up by both sides – in the region of £130,000. She ordered the council to pay 85 per cent of Veolia’s costs – which are estimated to be up to £45,000 – and also ordered the company to pay 15 per cent of the council’s costs, believed to be around £85,000, to reflect delay Veolia had caused to the trial earlier this month. The precise sums will be assessed later, if not agreed between the parties, but the total bill for council tax payers could be as high as £110,000. This could rise still higher after the council was granted leave to appeal.Judge Hampton explained the case centred on competing interpretations of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991, under which the council sought to force Veolia – formerly known as Three Valleys Water – to pay the £335.31. She added: “The case is really about whether the claimant, as a street authority, is entitled to charge the defendant, as an undertaker, for inspecting the site and installing cones and tapes over the manhole cover, pending its replacement.” While she rejected a claim by Veolia that the council’s charges were not reasonable, she ruled that she was “driven reluctantly to the conclusion” that the Council was not entitled to charge in this case.