Delays in completing the Kent Elms junction improvements have added more than £2.3million to the cost, it has been revealed.

Southend Council set aside £6.5million to widen the busy junction on the A127 in Leigh, however delays to the work, which should have been completed by spring 2017, raised costs to £6.8million.

With still no sign of an end to work to install a footbridge at the junction, the council has now allocated a total of £8,885,618 to complete the work.

The figures were revealed following an Echo freedom of information request.

Work on the junction was dogged by severe delays were caused over blunders by utility companies diverting pipes and cables.

Further delays were caused when a major water main was discovered by workmen digging foundations for the footbridge despite previous surveys by Essex and Suffolk Water.

Andrew Moring, councillor responsible for infrastructure, apologised for the delays and said the scheme had proven “highly complex”. He said: “As a regular user of the junction I understand the frustrations. The delays have clearly had an impact on the cost of delivering it.

“What makes this particularly hard to swallow is that these delays have been caused by and large by privately-owned utility companies, yet the cost of the delays is met by the council tax-payer.

“The council is to receive legal advice on its recourse to recoup some of this these costs from those responsible for the delays. When doing so, however, we must also consider the likely legal costs and the likelihood of success.”

The council said it will be better prepared with planned improvements to the Bell junction. Mr Moring added: “It is essential that we learn lessons from Kent Elms and apply those lessons to future highways projects.

“As a consequence, our highways contractor will have dug out 38 trial-holes along the highway and footway in the area round The Bell junction to give us greater certainty about the location of utilities, meaning we have a better chance of avoiding the sort of issues we have experienced at Kent Elms.”