THE private consortium responsible for the upkeep of motorways and trunk roads in central Scotland is under renewed pressure after a second manhole collapse within 24 hours led to further traffic disruption around Glasgow.
Councillor Alistair Watson, convener of land services for Glasgow City Council, has written to Sarah Boyack, the roads minister, seeking an urgent explanation of the chain of events and an assurance that the company's maintenance regime is up to scratch.
He said: ''I have heard from council officials that this incident was within half a mile of the first one and I find it astonishing that the problem was not picked up and sorted out at the time.''
Neil Greig, head of policy for the AA in Scotland, said: ''It is now quite clear that there is a wider investigation into this situation required. I feel also that the inquiry should include whether or not earlier maintenance work on this stretch of road was completed satisfactorily. This was work which was done before Amey Highways took over the contract.''
Yesterday's disruption followed the discovery of a second displaced manhole with associated road damage on the nearside lane of the M8 between Charing Cross and Craighall.
Police monitoring the delays said they were not as bad as those of Thursday, when queues of more than 10 miles built up on the motorway system around Glasgow and many commuters were up to two hours late for work.
Repair teams from Amey Highways worked throughout the day and the road was returned to full capacity in time for the evening rush hour.
Charles McLeod, managing director of Amey Scotland, said: ''We are working closely with the Scottish Executive and the police and an investigation is under way to determine the exact cause of the collapse.
''However, we believe at this time that a long-standing problem relating to deterioration of brickwork manholes underneath the 30-year-old motorway is involved. This appears to be an inherent problem that is now emerging.
''We have therefore agreed with the Scottish Executive that we will immediately carry out a very detailed programme to investigate the status of motorway manhole covers and thereafter to discuss with the executive what action is required to avoid this type of occurrence in the future.''
Inspections will be carried out over this weekend and Mr McLeod apologised for the delays and inconvenience caused.
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