You need the Section 171 consent (unless you are acting under a statutory right) if you need to dig up the road, create a vehicle access or highway alteration.

You can only start the work when the consent has been issued and signed by the Street Works Manager and returned to you for retention (the consent will be a pdf document). Any work done prior to this will constitute an illegal opening of the highway (this may not apply in the case of an emergency opening).

If the start date has changed from the one on the original consent application you must inform the Street Works team immediately by email section50@worcestershire.gov.uk so that road space can be booked for the new dates.

The application will take 28 days to process so please give as much notice as possible.

You can track your application via your dashboard based on the request ID, the location, the type of application, the work type, the road name, the town, postcode or the date the works are expected to happen.

The cost of the Section 171 consent is £450 (up to 200m length)

• this is payable by credit or debit card/ purchase order, please note that an additional £40 is applied for any payments that require a purchase order

• please refer to Fixed Penalty Notices (Code of Practice for the Co-ordination of Street Works and Works for Road Purposes and Related Matters, chapter 11 (Department of Transport website) regarding late submission of notices

• if for any reason we need to check any information submitted we may need to contact you for clarification - please see the Council's Privacy Notice for further information about how we use your information

Does your organisation already have an account?

If your organisation has already applied for permits or licences such as road closures, skips etc. via our online systems, your organisation should already have an account. Please go to the apply page to find more information on what you need to know before you apply for the Section 171 consent.

If your organisation does not yet have an account with us, please go to the create a company account page.