The company installing new high-speed fibre cables in Ipswich has promised to restore some pavements in conservation areas - after concerns the wrong materials were used to repair them.

The pledge comes after the concerns were raised by the Ipswich Society, with chairman John Norman saying: “Some of the work looks really shoddy, particularly in places like Henley Road which is in a conservation area.

“They have used concrete rather than mortar to repair the pavement and it is totally out of character.

“We’ve had concerns about utility firms not reinstating roads and pavements properly for years – but this is the worst we’ve seen.”

He said members were pleased that new cable was being laid – but it was wrong for the work to damage historic areas of the town.

MORE: City Fibre installs new cables across Ipswich

A spokesman for CityFibre said that in some cases contractors had to make temporary repairs once the cables were laid, before teams returned later to complete the job.

He said: “At CityFibre, we always work closely with our construction partners and the county council highways team to ensure all works are completed to a high standard.

“As part of this, we specify that all reinstatement materials must match the original materials as closely as possible.

“However, we sometimes need to put temporary reinstatement in place while works are ongoing, which is the case here in Ipswich.

“We’d like to reassure residents that reinstatement works will be completed in full, and that this will in most cases be completed within three months of works as we progress through the town.

“We’d also like to thank the community for its patience as we make this £30million private investment that is creating dozens of long-term jobs for local people.

“Once complete, the full fibre network will provide the community with state-of-the-art digital infrastructure, benefiting the local area for decades to come.”

The new cable being laid should bring full-fibre broadband to tens of thousands of homes across the town.

Work is continuing in Fonnereau Road and in Bramford Lane and is expected to move to the east of the town over the next few weeks, which should bring better connectivity to more properties.