IT is great that York is getting ultrafast broadband.

But does installing the cables have to be quite such a messy business?

People living on the Clifton Moor Estate have had to put up with weeks of having their pavements dug up.

According to 77-year-old Steve Oxbrow, some of the holes engineers dug were left unfilled for weeks.

That is getting beyond messy to the point where it is actually dangerous. Steve says he has witnessed one child on a scooter crash into an unmarked manhole.

CityFibre engineers installing the cables have blamed machinery breakdown for the delays. But that will be small consolation to the people who have had to put up with this.

It is one of the plagues of modern living that our streets and pavements are constantly being dug up.

It sometimes seems that no sooner has the electricity company filled in a trench than water authority engineers dig the road up again. Why can they never seem to co-ordinate their efforts?

This isn't only disruptive: it is unsightly. Many of our roads and pavements look like a patchwork quilt of repairs.

That matters, because an historic city like York that relies on visitors needs to look its best.

But York shouldn't look good just for tourists. People living in the city's suburbs should also be entitled to expect the same consideration.

If workmen must dig up our roads and pavements then - especially if they work for a business that is doing the work for commercial gain - we should expect them to do the job quickly and efficiently, and to return the streets afterwards to tip top condition. Wherever those streets are.