Work on a new £24 million bypass in Lancashire has been delayed until early next year, it has been announced.

The Broughton Bypass project is being delivered by Hochtief UK, on behalf of Lancashire County Council. However, work is not expected to be finished until early 2018.

The local authority said the delay is down to a number of reasons, such as the utility contractor being unable to carry out work on the site as planned, the rebuilding of an embankment which collapsed due to extremely wet ground conditions, redesigned drainage to accommodate underground equipment, and more challenging ground conditions than expected.

In addition, the delays has affected the overall cost of the scheme with the total now estimated at £32m.

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The scheme aims to reduce traffic travelling through the centre of Broughton on Garstang Road by up to 90% and improve journey times into and out of Preston. It will also create better connectivity to the wider road network, with benefits to the development and economic growth of the local area.

County Councillor Keith Iddon said: "We share people's frustrations at these delays and apologise for the disruption it has been causing to people's homes, businesses and journeys.

"We're clearly disappointed that there has been a further delay to this scheme, and look forward to seeing the final stages completed.

"We're working with the contractors, Hochtief, to do everything that we can to minimise the inconvenience while this major build takes place.

"It's a big challenge to construct a major road such as the bypass, with the A6 carrying a lot of traffic and few options for alternative routes, which would allow us to close roads for longer as part of the work.

"It's been many decades since this road was first considered and the reality is that despite the delays, in a few months we will have a new bypass which will bring much-needed congestion relief to the village itself and the wider area. Great progress has already been made and a lot of construction work has been done which people may not be able to see from the road."

(LM)