Five on hold for £31m A1 roads work

The five contractors in the running for a high-profile £31m road scheme on the A1 will have to sweat it out until the end of the month before they know who has clinched the deal.

The quintet Ð Laing O'Rourke, Inter-serve, Morgan Est, Amec and Nuttall - had hoped to hear news last month of their bids for the Peterborough to Blyth grade-separated junctions scheme.

But the Highways Agency has now asked all the contenders to extend the tender validity period until 29 August for the early contractor involvement deal.

A project source speculated: "The contract is 100% quality, so maybe the HA is finding it difficult to make a decision on that basis."

The project involves constructing grade-separated junctions to replace six single-level roundabouts on a stretch of the A1 between Nottingham and Stamford, Lincolnshire.