Civils need to be civil

Sir;

Regrettably I live next door to a bypass scheme which is in the course of construction.

After my bitter experiences of both the Highways Agency, the consulting engineers, and the main contractor lying through their teeth and riding roughshod over local and individual interests, displaying a level of arrogance which would not be accepted in any other industry, I can only say that it is my greatest desire that every possible future road scheme is put on hold until the civils industry shows some civility and operates to normal civilised codes of conduct.

I am in the construction industry. Thank God our part of the industry does not behave in the same atrocious, anti-social way as the civils. If we did we would be hounded off every site we worked on, as the contractor working on our particular bypass should be.

I now know how the industry got such a bad name. There must be thousands like me who have been affected by the totalitarian and ruthless methods used by civils contractors adopting a 'contractual' stance.

It is time civil engineering contractors asked themselves what the protestors are protesting about. I suspect better behaviour in the execution of its contracts might not go amiss. The civils industry needs all the friends it can get right now. Perhaps it is so thick skinned and thick headed that it does not understand which hand is feeding it. If it did it would not be so quick to bite that hand.

Graham Jones

Address supplied