Bath city centre 'ring of steel' costs rise above £3m

Work to replace the temporary gates on York Street with permanent installations will begin in January

The total cost of a counter-terrorism "ring of steel" around a city centre has risen above £3m.

The rising cost of the security scheme in Bath has been attributed to inflation and a shortage of materials causing delays.

Work is set to begin on the scheme in January and delivered in phases through the next two years.

A Bath and North East Somerset Council report stated scaling back the scheme had been considered but was ruled out.

"Any mitigations to save costs will seriously compromise the security provision within the city centre security scheme," it said.

Measures are being brought in after a National Counter Terrorism Security Office report identified areas around Bath Abbey and the Roman Baths as crowded areas requiring protection from the potential for terrorist attacks with vehicles.

Reasons for rising costs include paying for traffic management and trial excavations, as well as considering a large number of alternative traffic plans, the report said.

Cabinet member for transport, Manda Rigby, has been asked to approve an additional £849,000 towards the project, taking the total cost past £3m, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

Manually-operated barriers

Ms Rigby said inflation and price increases have "had an inevitable impact on all our cost forecasts".

"The delay has been caused by Covid and the public inquiry and there has been cost inflation and supply shortages," she said.

"This means that to implement it will cost more money, hence this phased approach combined with looking for other sources of funding to finish the works.

"In the interim, we will continue to protect our residents, businesses, workers and visitors via manually operated barriers on points other than the York Street automatic implementation."

Disabled residents have previously raised fears barriers would make the city centre inaccessible for them.