Subway repairs halt city revamp

A subway underneath the road is causing problems

Work to revamp one of the oldest streets in Coventry could be on hold for up to a year.

The city council had earmarked £3.6m to refurbish Ironmonger Row and the Burges into a new public square.

Work halted when problems were found with an underground subway leaving a large dug-up area in the road.

Repairs to the subway will be expensive and plans to transform Ironmonger Road will be now have to be scaled down, a spokesman said.

The subway, which is about 50 years old, acts as a service area for the nearby Primark store.

John McGuigan, acting chief executive for the council, said work was needed to underpin the subway.

He said: "The engineering work will cost a lot of money and we will not be able to achieve the scale of the scheme we wanted."

The original plans involved encouraging cafes and restaurants to open around the area.