KIER Group, which has been carrying out the A30 works at Temple, has been subject to daily fines from Cornwall Council due to being behind schedule.

Kier won the contract to dual the A30 between Temple and Higher Carblake in 2015. At the time, the company stated that work would begin in March 2015 and was expected to take 22 months, with the new road open to the public in early 2017.

Leader of Cornwall Council, Liberal Democrat ward member for Launceston North and North Petherwin, Adam Paynter, said Kier is still carrying out ‘mainly superficial stuff’, such as planting and drainage works, but that this should have been finished ‘months ago’. The amount the company is being fined has not yet been revealed, and the company is now taking a break until the new year.

Cllr Paynter added: “Kier have done a good job, they did open two lanes for this summer. What they have done is fantastic. It’s a great scheme that’s worked well. It’s disappointing they haven’t done exactly what they said. We are holding them to the contract. I think a lot of people think the council is soft but we do manage contracts tightly and it’s public money.”

A spokesperson for Cornwall Council said: “To make sure motorists travelling in and out of Cornwall over the holiday season are not delayed at Bodmin Moor, the dual carriageway will be fully open between 6pm on Thursday, December 21, and 6am on Wednesday, January 3. Daytime lane closures in both directions [during the day, 6am to 6pm, to allow for verge and central reservation works] will resume at the site on Wednesday, January 3. We have been given assurances by Kier that this work on the dual carriageway will be completed by the end of January.”

A Kier spokesperson said: “The dualling of the A30 between Temple and Higher Carblake was opened to the public on time, in July, in accordance with a revised schedule following delays due to the extremely wet winter leading up to this. This revised schedule included completing some accommodation works and landscaping after the mains works completion and these are due to finish in January.

“This has included planting 15,000 trees and 95,000 square metres of seeding. We will be leaving the site during the Christmas period between December 21 and January 3 to allow for the busy holiday traffic to flow freely and will then return for the final part of this work.”