A council contractor that has been failing to meet its street light repair targets has been ordered to improve or face sanctions.

Ringway fixed just 30 per cent of the 50,000 street light defects reported to Hertfordshire County Council in February within the expected 20-day timeframe - against a target of 98 per cent.

The Liberal Democrats have called on the Conservative-led county council to sack the firm if it does not up its game within six weeks.

Councillor Terry Douris, Tory cabinet member for Highways, admitted Ringway’s performance had “not been good enough” but said the firm would be given time to improve before sanctions were imposed.

He said: “We have worked very hard with them and I know they are working hard to get back up to speed, as it hasn’t been good enough.

“We have to make it better and they are in no doubt whatsoever about our intentions. We have a contract with them and there are sanctions that could be applied if we have to do that.

“But I am a great believer in giving someone the chance to recover and I would like to believe they will rise to the challenge to get our street lights working again.”

Many of the faults were reported in residential roads, with Lib Dem Councillor Sara Bedford saying some lighting problems in her Abbots Langley ward had gone unaddressed for more than four months.

Councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst, leader of the county’s Lib Dems, said: “Their levels of failure are now so high that members are spending more time dealing with lighting problems, having to apologise on behalf of the county council. It should not be like this.

“If Ringway has not fixed the problem within six weeks, the county council should be looking for a new provider.

"Frankly I think county officers have also left this matter drift, Ringway's performance dropped in September and October and fell still further in November and December, yet a plan to get them to repair our lights was not agreed until February.

“This is and was not good enough. Ringway are being paid millions and we should not in this day and age be chasing them to ensure our street lights work correctly."