Wandsworth's London Assembly member is urging residents to support a plan to charge utility companies to dig up roads during busy parts of the day.

The Department for Transport has launched a 12-week consultation on whether to charge utility firms to carry out road works at times of the day most likely to cause traffic congestion.

Richard Tracey, assembly member for Merton and Wandsworth, said: "It is entirely legitimate to seek to limit the impact of road works by charging firms who carry out repairs in the middle of the day, when the work could be done outside peak periods.

"However, this reform should be carried out with some subtlety. I do not want residents disturbed late at night be a pneumatic drill as firms seek to avoid the cost of carrying out work at other times."