Construction giant Kier’s tender for the bridge at Whittlesey was angrily rejected by the county council after it came in “substantially late and substantially increased on price”.

County council leader Steve Count says in a broadcast video ahead of a public meeting in the town that a new contractor will now be sought.

He said he would be in Whittlesey on Monday August 12 from 3pm to 8pm with a team of officers to meet residents at the Christian Church on Broad Street.

He said he would explain "how we are going to move forward and explain how we have got to where we are".

He compared Kier's actions to a builder offering you a price for a job, coming to your house and then asking for three times more than was originally estimated.

Cllr Count said it was "unacceptable" and the council was going back to the drawing board to decide their next steps.

But he says in the video he will speak with "passion" at a specially convened meeting of the economy and environment committee three days later to press the case for Kings Dyke.

That meeting, he said, would also be held in Whittlesey.

He said of the public meeting that it was being held "in the heart of the town and I want to ensure those residents that will be most affected by any decisions that we take have had an opportunity to hear for themselves the issues we have faced.

"I will be there in person for residents to directly ask me about the project, and to see how determined I am to get this scheme built".