Balfour replaces Sutton stones

Balfour Beatty is replacing stonework at the top of the new Saint Nicholas shopping Centre in Sutton at its own expense - just two years after finishing the building. The problem came to light after an architect's inspection at the end of the defects liability period.

Garry Brookes of P+O Developments, project manager for the scheme, said: 'Our architect noticed hairline cracks in the mortar joints at the top of the tower so we erected a fan scaffold from the bottom of the tower and put safety netting in place at the top and took a closer look.

'A survey of the tower revealed that some stonework didn't have sufficient lateral restraint, as recommended by British Standards. To correct this, stonework had to be taken off in those areas where a metal detector survey indicated this was needed.'

All stonework in the Centre, owned by Norwich Union, was surveyed and Brookes said that the contractor agreed to correct the faults.

Work will take another four weeks to complete as stones are only supported every seven layers, so several have to be removed to reach each defective item.