SOUTHEND Council says it will fight to recoup extra costs incurred during delays to work on the Kent Elms junction after a series of errors.

The council promised it will scrutinise bills from companies it blames for causing delays to the road widening scheme on the A127 junction which is already a year late.

Work on replacing the footbridge across the busy junction will not now be complete until next year following the discovery of a major water main which must be moved.

The company which carried out ground penetrating radar surveys failed to find the water main.

Essex and Suffolk Water had also failed to warn the council before the main was found by contractors and work halted, it is claimed.

Andrew Moring, councillor responsible for infrastructure, said: “As work at Kent Elms is still ongoing, we are yet to receive all final invoices from companies involved, and therefore cannot confirm the cost of the delays at this time.

“Once we do receive these from utility companies, these will be carefully reviewed and challenged where appropriate, as we may not accept additional charges.

“We are also meeting with the company that undertook our ground-penetrating radar surveys to better understand why that work did not identify a major water main in the correct position, whose presence has significantly delayed the construction of the replacement footbridge.

“Subject to these discussions, we will seek counsel on whether we have a claim to recoup costs on this element of the work.”

Mr Moring added: “In addition we have taken several measures to control costs and also keep any delay costs down to a minimum. For example, by paying upfront for utilities works, we secured a 75 per cent discount which has been applicable to more than 80 per cent of the utilities diversions.”