Delays to work in Fleming Way saw relations between Swindon Borough Council and Thames Water become dangerously strained.

And a senior councillor said he was close to blaming the utility company publicly for the hold-up.

Work has been going on since late 2022 on the major project which will see the road lowered to allow easier pedestrian movement between the Kimmerfields regeneration area and the town centre.

And Fleming Way itself will be closed to all motor traffic except buses and will act as a public transport hub.

One of the major projects as part of the whole scheme was to move all the cabling and ducting and pipes under the road, to allow the heavy construction work to take place.

But Councillor Kevin Small, the council’s cabinet member for finance, who has responsibility for strategic infrastructure, said there were significant delays in getting water mains moved.

It means the expected completion date for the whole scheme has now slipped from its original date of late 2024 to the second half of 2025.

Cllr Small told the borough council’s overview and scrutiny committee that at one point his patience was nearly exhausted.

He said: “I was genuinely close to ordering a banner which would have said 'Delayed by Thames Water' to be put up in The Parade in the town centre.”

Cllr Small explained that the legal situation always seemed to mean that work for a local authority is a lower priority: “If we were a private company and there were delays caused by Thames Water, we could take them to court and sue for the loss caused.

“But local authorities are not allowed to do that in law. So, if there are delays it seems that we always fall to the bottom of the priority list. It’s very frustrating.”

But now, he said, the water company had got on with the work needed, and relations between the two organisations were being repaired: “There’s no need for my banner. We are cooperating much better now.”

A Thames Water spokesperson said: “We are very sorry for the time it has taken to complete our part of the council’s Fleming Way project. Our teams have now finished their work on the water mains and we will continue to liaise with the council as the scheme progresses.”

But crews from the company will be back on-site in just a few weeks as a new round of work on an 18-inch main is scheduled to start in May.