Tunnel work complete 'next spring'

Hundreds of aluminium panels are having to be replaced

The refurbishment of the Saltash Tunnel, one of the main road links into Cornwall, will not be complete until next year.

The £7.5m contract should have been finished by March this year.

But a number of problems have delayed the project.

One of the main hold-ups has been the aluminium panels lining the tunnel walls.

Hundreds of them have buckled and bulged and are having to be replaced.

The Highways Agency had hoped the additional work would finished by the end of November.

But now says it will be spring next year before the work is finished, about a year behind schedule.