A VIDEO going behind the scenes of the delayed Church Street West sewer works in Radcliffe has been released by United Utilities.

Last month bosses at the water company confessed the £1.7 million scheme – which saw the busy town centre road shut last July for an estimated eight months – was not on schedule.

The Radcliffe Times revealed delays meant Church Street West would not reopen at the end of the 40-week period this March and could be shut for months more into the summer.

United Utilities has today released a video citing work to clear plants and erosion on the embankment due to heavy rain as the reasons for delays.

In the video, construction manager Lee Hall says: “Initially before we started we had a survey done, and it found we had a lot of invasive species on the embankment; Himalayan Balsam, Japanese Knotweed and Giant Hogweed.

“We had to clear this and have the ground treated on three separate occasions before we could come to work on the embankment.

“Just before Christmas we had some erosion on the embankment due to heavy rainfall, and we had to carry out some emergency stabilisation repairs which stabilised the ground.

“The works we are carrying out at the moment are adding to the stability of the slope.”

Frustrated residents have faced traffic chaos since the closure, with a diversion through Blackburn Street and Spring Lane causing delays of up to an hour, and the large compound erected in front of shops means trade in the town centre is also struggling.

Bosses at United Utilities have refused to give a precise new reopening date for Church Street West but said they will update businesses and residents as soon as a date is known.

Speaking in the video, a spokesman adds: “United Utilities is working as fast as it can to make up some of the lost time.”

Councillors initially hoped the £1.7 million project, which was supposed to start last April but did not begin until July, would finish ahead of schedule with the road reopened by Christmas.