Cumbria Council ordered to pay £5.4m bill

Cumbria County Council must pay a bill of £5.4m after a dispute with a former contractor, the High Court has ruled.

Road maintenance company Amey carried out road repairs for the council until 2012 when the contract ended.

It accused the council of not paying it, or underpaying it, for various services. The council said much of the work carried out was "substandard".

A High Court judge has ruled the council must pay £5,365,093.34. Amey had claimed £30m.

In a statement the council admitted holding back a final payment on the grounds of "poor workmanship", but said it would pay using money originally "held back to cover any final settlement".

It said the payment was made on top of the £272m already paid to Amey throughout the seven-year contract.

Who claimed what?

Bob Cooper, BBC Radio Cumbria political reporter

In 2005, Amey was asked by the council to fix potholes, resurface roads, maintain road signs and 28,000 street lights and to carry out gritting and snow clearance in the winter.

The relationship began to deteriorate after the council reviewed highways services in 2008 and decided to bring them back in house.

The two sides began to disagree about how much money Amey should be paid for various things.

This couldn't be resolved, so Amey brought the case to court with a claim of £30m - and the council with a counter claim of about £20m, even after taking into account its valuation of Amey's claims.

In a statement Amey said: "We are proud to have served the county delivering high quality highways services... and we welcome the decision of the court."

The council is deciding whether to appeal.

The High Court also ruled on 11 November that interest would accrue at the daily rate of £1,219.13 until payment was made.