A man has received £1,000 from Greenwich Council after his car was trapped on his driveway for five days during dropped kerb extension works. The South London authority took eight months to start the works, commenced them without notifying the man, and the resulting kerb was almost a metre shorter than what was originally agreed.
Ombudsman finds fault in council's handling
The man, known as Mr X, complained to the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman, which found fault in how Greenwich Council handled the dropped kerb extension. Mr X applied to extend the dropped kerb in front of his house on December 19, 2024, and paid the £125 inspection fee. A month later, the council approved his application and sent Mr X a quote.
He completed the construction of his new hardstanding parking space in March 2025. He paid the council £5,237 the following month for the kerb extension works. Greenwich said the construction of the dropped kerb could take up to 16 weeks to start.
Delays and lack of communication
Mr X made a formal complaint when the work had not started after 16 weeks. Six months after he made the payment, Greenwich Council advertised a traffic order on October 22. However, work to extend the dropped kerb didn’t commence until December 15.
Despite the delay, Mr X was not notified of the start of the works. He was also not told that the dropped kerb was 2.4 metres, not the 3.3 metres he expected and was initially informed he would be getting.
The ombudsman found fault in how Greenwich Council delayed the work by several months and wrongly told the man his kerb could be 3.3 metres long when council policy limited it to 2.4 metres.
Compensation and council response
The ombudsman report states: “There was also poor communication by the council. This caused Mr X injustice. He paid out a significant sum of money which the council held for almost a year before completing the works.
“He says that his car was trapped on the drive for five days as he wasn’t told the works were starting and the dropped kerb was shorter than he was originally quoted for.”
The ombudsman ordered Greenwich Council to pay Mr X £1,000 to “reflect his distress from the delayed works, inconvenience and poor communication”. The ombudsman also felt the payment would make up for the fact that the dropped kerb was smaller than expected and that Mr X was not told of this until the works had already begun, meaning he could not cancel the works and get a refund as they did not match what had already been agreed.
A Greenwich Council spokesperson said: “The council has apologised and paid Mr X following the Ombudsman's decision, and we have already put measures in place to avoid future errors and make sure applicants are kept well-informed throughout the process.
“This includes a new site inspection checklist covering policy criteria and measurements, to prevent errors when assessing dropped kerb applications. We’ve also advised our external contractors that they must give applicants at least 48 hours before works are proposed to start and take measures to accommodate vehicle access during the works wherever possible.
“Our updated Dropped Kerb Policy is available on our website. It sets out criteria, key timeframes, costs and other considerations for both residents and the council, when applying and assessing applications respectively. These measures will make sure residents can be confident in our service when applying for a dropped kerb.”
