Utility companies with overrunning weekend roadworks could be slapped with fines for causing prolonged disruption under fresh plans currently being considered.

Under proposals to improve the nation's roads for drivers, money raised from penalties would then be ploughed back into pothole repairs and resurfacing works.

Currently, utility companies are only fined for disruption on working days.

But a consultation – launched by roads minister Guy Opperman – seeks to extend this into weekends and bank holidays as a deterrent for letting roadworks overrun.

In Kent, the proposals have been welcomed by highways bosses where closures have shot up more than 200% since 2017.

There is a £10,000 per day fine for overrunning street works with the government pushing for this to now apply seven days a week and on bank holidays.

New measures could also double fines from £500 up to a maximum of £1,000 for companies that breach conditions of the job, such as working without a permit.

The new plans would also direct at least 50% of money from lane rental schemes — which allow highway authorities to charge companies for the time that works take place — back into improvement schemes.

As much as £100m within 10 years could be generated, suggests the government’s roads minister, that would then be reinvested in improvements.

In an open letter, Mr Opperman explained: “When utility company roadworks overrun, it’s motorists who pay the price with congestion, detours and longer journeys.

“This is why I’ve announced a plan to crack down on works by utility companies overrunning.

“We are consulting on plans to toughen fines for utility companies if they overrun and increase the penalties for operating without a licence.

“Proposals include using money the utility companies pay councils to ‘block off’ the streets, and putting it into resurfacing and improving local roads.

“The result? We could generate £100 million extra each year to resurface roads and tackle potholes left behind by utility companies, while helping tackle congestion, cutting down journey times and make driving a bit easier.”

The move forms part of a wider ‘Plan for Drivers’ initiative, which the government says aims to drive highways improvements for the benefit of road users.

Earlier this month breakdown organisation the AA called on cash-strapped councils to make ‘effective, permanent repairs’ pothole repairs amid reports that damage to cars from holes in the road had reached a five-year high.

Edmund King, AA president, said repairs were currently in a ‘vicious circle’.

He explained: “Currently, we often have a vicious circle of: pothole formed; damage caused; pothole patched; pothole reappears with more damage caused - when what we need are more permanent repairs.”