Cambridgeshire County Council is supporting a national campaign to stop abuse of roadworkers.
The council is appealing to the public to show respect for our highway officers after incidents of physical and verbal abuse.
In Cambridgeshire, there have been 29 threatening behaviour reports and four assaults in the past year (since November 2024). These included incidents where highways workers have been intimidated, sworn at, had a bottle thrown at them, spat at and one officer was assaulted whilst trying to help the public with a diversion route. There have also been 30 intentional incursions onto our worksites since February 2025, all of which could have resulted in a more serious outcome than they did.
While trying to carry out their work on the highway, officers continue to face daily verbal abuse as well as more serious cases.
In one incident, in South Cambridgeshire, a woman drove at the highway officer, rammed her vehicle into barriers, became extremely aggressive, got out of her car, shouted personal abuse at him, threatened him, and then called the police.
In another incident in East Cambridgeshire an officer was responding to a customer report of a drainage issue and when attempting to discuss the issue with the resident who had reported it, was assaulted, with their hair being grabbed whilst verbal abuse was directed at them.
On recent major projects, such as the Greater Cambridge Partnership’s work on Milton Road in Cambridge, teams on the ground have unfortunately had some horrific experiences, from being threatened with violence to being driven at while managing traffic.
The Stamp It Out campaign hopes to raise awareness of the issue amongst the public and help remove abuse that roadworkers receive every day. Research by the group found that 50% of those in public-facing roles face weekly abuse, while 80% do not report it, as they feel nothing will be done.
To tackle this behaviour, highway workers have begun to wear bodycams and vehicles are fitted with dashcams to record any incidents. We’re also working with the police to report these incidents and pass on the recordings for further investigation and prosecution.
One highway worker at CCC shared their thoughts about the abuse they receive.
They said: “We are human beings like everyone else trying to earn a living.
“We’re out in all weathers trying to maintain the roads and paths in our county and abuse is an unfortunate aspect of our daily work life. The frequent abuse affects our wellbeing – it gets you down.
“We’re asking people to consider how they would feel if they were in a similar situation in their workplace and someone started verbally abusing or being violent towards them whilst they were in the office.”
Cllr Alex Beckett, Chair of the Highways and Transport Committee at Cambridgeshire County Council, said: “It is completely unacceptable that our highway officers and contractors, who are working hard to fix our roads and paths, face daily abuse.
“There is always a lot of attention around roadworks and the effects they have on communities and businesses.
“I understand people will want to raise concerns, but I ask they do so in a positive manner and treat our highway officers with respect during their working day.
“The safety of our highway crews always comes first, and any threatening behaviour shown towards them will not be tolerated.”
Gary Williams, Business Director for M Group Highways in Cambridgeshire, said: “Our operatives are Cambridgeshire residents who work incredibly hard to help maintain the safety and improve the quality of the county’s roads and footpaths.
“Their safety and wellbeing is our number one priority and the types of abuse they face on a daily basis is totally unacceptable. Please think about the operative working in all weather doing their best to get you home safely.”
More details about the national Stamp It Out campaign can be found on their website.
