A Labour council is spending £440,000 to guard an unused road after the firm hired to build it went bust.
Swindon Borough Council, under Labour majority control since 2023, is trying to keep away joy riders while work on the land continues.
The Southern Connector Road stretches from South Marston to the north of the Commonhead roundabout and is being built for the New Eastern Villages (NEV) development, which is expected to include 8,000 homes.
It’s going to be guarded from February to mid-2026 after Buckingham Group, in charge of building it from 2021, went into administration in 2023.
Councillor Chris Watts, cabinet member for transport, said Swindon “can’t risk this going on for years and years”, prompting the council to pay before repairs before seeking compensation.
The road is currently owned by administrator Grant Thorton, which wants Swindon Borough Council to pay for it to be completed.
However, the council hit back, arguing that it’s not fit for purpose and needs repairs, including a “loose road surface” and “significant” work to a bridge with a “crack”, which Mr Watts warned “won’t be cheap”.
The Southern Connector Road was surveyed and inspected by the council and Grant Thornton, which identified issues with the road surfacing, embankments, verges, and road safety.
Mr Watts added: “This project has been stuck in a time warp since I took over as Cabinet Member in June 2023 as, just three months after taking on the job, Buckingham collapsed.
“We also have a duty to local residents to get this road opened for construction traffic so that developers working on future phases of the NEV can use it to access their sites.
“We are aiming to get part of the road opened to construction traffic over the coming months to enable them to access their land.”
Grant Thornton recently asked for an independent conflict administrator appointed by the court, which would only result in the further delays.
A spokesperson for Grant Thornton told the BBC: “The administrators are in ongoing discussions with the local council, with the view to resolving the matter.”