TOWN councillors have expressed "disappointment" that delays to the Kirkby Stephen enhancement scheme mean that work will not be completed until later in the year.

According to the chairman of Kirkby Stephen Town Council, Coun Alex Birtles, contractors working on the scheme are facing a 16-week wait for kerbstones to finish off the pavement works outside the Cloisters and the Pennine Hotel on Market Street.

This would have meant the kerbstones would have been delivered, ready for installation, in the middle of August - the height of the tourist season and during judging for the town's Britain in Bloom bid.

The annual meeting of the Kirkby Stephen town council was told that starting work on the kerbstones would have meant "major upheavals" in the town at a sensitive time so the kerbstone replacement scheme had been suspended and would recommence in September.

Coun Birtles said: "We did advise them about the judging of Cumbria and Britain in Bloom and that it would be a bad thing for the works to be going on during the process. It's quite clear there has been a problem and the kerbstones were not ordered in time."

"It makes sense to delay the work given that July and August are the best months for the town's economy," he added.

He also said he was "disappointed" that no further work had been carried out on the scheme since Easter but work on installing cycle racks, street lights and more paving stones was likely to begin in the next few weeks.

Eden District Councillor Trevor Ladhams said that someone "deserved a rocket" for not ordering the kerbstones in time.

A spokesman for Cumbria County Council said there had been a delay and they had considered using alternative materials and suppliers but the town council had wanted to wait to ensure the original materials that had been agreed upon were used on the scheme.

She also said that the decision to postpone the work was taken in consultation with local businesses to minimise disruption during the important summer period.