A COUNCIL contractor has apologised to residents for delays in repairing a road which has been closed for more than nine months.

Jay's Lane in Leintwardine is the last road to be reopened out of 45 in Herefordshire which were closed because of flooding.

Balfour Beatty Living Places, which is contracted by Herefordshire Council to maintain highways, said it has not handled the situation as well as it should have and a new project manager has now been appointed.

The road has been closed since February and workers hope to have it open by the end of the year.

Resident Richard Jarrett said: "They know they have made mistakes. We just want to be sorted out.

"It has been going on for too long."

Villagers have been left frustrated after seeing council workers using the road, which leads out of the village towards Bedstone.

If travelling in that direction villagers need to drive four miles out of the way.

Work needs to be carried out on the bridge crossing the River Clun, but there have been delays over worries about an endangered species of freshwater mussel, found by the Environment Agency two years ago in the river.

Alasdair MacDonald, design and build manager of Balfour Beatty Living Places, said: "We offer our sincere apologies to local residents for the delay in completing this job. We haven’t handled it as well as we should have done and have appointed a new project manager to expedite the work.

"Jay’s Lane is far more complex than all the other roads which required straightforward engineering solutions."

He said to complete the work to the road and riverbank they have needed to work with a number of other parties and agencies.

Herefordshire Council is negotiating the purchase of a strip of land between the road and the river to allow access and they are waiting for permission from the Environment Agency.

The work will be completed in two phases- repairing the road first and then the river bank.

Regular updates will be sent to the parish council.