OFFICIALS say they’re ‘not in a position’ to announce Poole Bridge’s reopening date as they are still awaiting clear assurances from the contractor Interserve.

Julian McLaughlin, head of growth and infrastructure at Borough of Poole, said: “The council is very conscious of the impact of the ongoing delay as it has not been possible to take back control of Poole Bridge from Interserve ready for us to re-open the bridge to traffic.”

Mr McLaughlin says the council can only reopen the bridge after confirming with Interserve it is safe to do so and ensuring all contractual requirements have been met.

Meanwhile, an Interserve spokesman told the Daily Echo: “We are confident that we will complete the Poole Bridge scheme and are working closely with Borough of Poole to overcome challenges around commissioning of the bridge.”

On Wednesday, Cllr Ian Potter - cabinet portfolio holder for transportation, planning and regeneration at BOP - confirmed he’d written to the council’s chief executive requesting a full review of the circumstances which have contributed to the bridge delays.

Yesterday, Mr McLaughlin said: “We are very sorry for the continued inconvenience this is causing some residents and especially people living in Hamworthy.”

He added the council was doing everything in its power to get the bridge re-opened at the earliest opportunity.

“This can only be done once we have received clear assurances from Interserve, confirmed that it is safe to re-open it to the travelling public as well as ensuring that all relevant commissioning and contractual requirements have been met,” he explained. “Given the previous uncertainty on the part of the contractor in terms of delivery timescale, we are unfortunately not in a position to announce a re-opening date today.”

Mr McLaughlin also said that as soon as the council is able to confirm a reopening date, they will let local people know.

The bridge renovation is part of a wider £23.3m investment by the Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (DLEP), a business-led private and public sector partnership to promote economic growth.

Re-opening of the 90-year-old bridge has been pushed back seven times, and the original £4.7million costs are likely to have grown significantly.

Delays have been blamed on, tough working conditions, late delivery of parts, uncharted utility lines and unmapped remnants of previous bridges.

The share price of Interserve plunged earlier this week, after it emerged the firm was on a list of contractors being monitored by the government following the collapse of Carillion.

An Interserve spokesman said: “Last week we announced that we expect our 2017 performance to be in-line with expectations outlined in October and that our transformation plan is expected to deliver £40m-£50m benefit by 2020.

“This remains the case and we expect our 2018 operating profit to be ahead of current market expectations and we continue to have constructive discussions with lenders over longer-term funding.”