FIBRECITY has now said it will not restart work in Bournemouth until 2011.

The company suddenly stopped laying broadband cables on October 22 and claimed there would be a four-week delay in the high profile project.

However that deadline ran out on Monday and the company said yesterday work will begin in “early 2011.”

Fibrecity’s rolling work programme of digging up pavements had reached Boscombe, Winton and Moordown at the time of the suspension.

Cllr Phil Stanley-Watts, Boscombe East, said: “They have just left things as they were in our area.

“This has caused an awful lot of bother and some of the cost could fall on the council taxpayers. There must be a lot of red faces around.”

A Fibrecity spokesman said: “The delay has created confusion for which we apologise.

“Wessex Water’s decision to pullout of the agreement to let Fibrecity use its sewer pipes to lay the cables has had an impact on the way that we need to deliver the network.

“As the network we have built to-date has passed 50,000 homes, we have taken the decision to focus on connecting customers for a short period before continuing the rest of the rollout.”

Fibrecity is installing free, superfast broadband in Bournemouth and Dundee in the expectation residents will choose to pay for its services in the future.

Bournemouth Council said it had been told work would restart in Febr-uary.

The project employed around 140 contractors and councillors have criticised the firm for the lack of information since work stopped.

Cllr Claire Smith, leader of the Lib Dem group, said: “The people of Bournemouth pay for our street maintenance – they deserve to know what is happening.”

Cllr Stanley-Watts added: “They have put £10m of investment into Bournemouth, according to officers, so it seems to me illogical for them not to come back and carry on.”