The stalling of a multi-million-pound project to build a bypass in Swadlincote has left residents with a "roundabout to nowhere" and further traffic woes.

Much of the one kilometre new bypass route from the A514 close to the Swadlincote Sports Centre through to Occupation Lane in Woodville is complete.

However, the bypass is not open and was due to have been completed months ago.

The route lies desolate and deserted, with numerous piles of soil, rubble and construction materials, including planks and tubes; a litany of traffic cones and significant swathes of unfinished work.

A portable toilet occupies one of the three roundabouts constructed as part of the route, which aims to open up the former opencast coal mine for the development of hundreds of homes, shops and businesses.

The major roundabout on the Swadlincote side of the project is currently an additional piece of costly infrastructure which does not lead anywhere, with signage showing a blank space where destinations would be listed.

A large compound which had been occupied by Nottingham-based construction company NMCN is still in place near the Occupation Lane end of the project with a significant amount of machinery.

In early October, when the £13.4 million project – almost entirely from the public purse – was already past its completion deadline, NMCN, the company building the route, plunged into administration.

Now, Derbyshire County Council, which commissioned the project and compulsory purchased the site for its construction, says it is to complete the unfinished scheme.

The council says the project should have been finished by the end of September.

A sign on the Occupation Lane side of the route says the project started on October 26 2020 and was to last 40 weeks – which puts the would-be forecast completion date at the beginning of August.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked the county council a number of key questions relating to the project.

It asked when the project would restart, whether the council itself would finish the project or a new contractor, when the scheme is now due to be completed, if the delay would cause the project cost to increase and if the council (and taxpayers) would lose money, and how much NMCN was paid for the work.

The council isssued a press release to say it was going to finish the work itself. It says there are "around four weeks of work outstanding".

It said it could not say how much the company was paid for the work because it was "financially sensitive" while negotiations with sub-contractors and suppliers needed to complete the project are ongoing.

An online database of council contracts shows the authority signed a £5.5 million deal with NMCN in August last year.

The council says NMCN was not paid in advance for any work that has not been completed.

Cllr Carolyn Renwick, the authority's cabinet member for infrastructure and environment, said on the council's behalf: "There will be a slight delay in work restarting due to the administration process, but we hope to have the project completed as soon as possible.

"It's sad to hear that North Midland Construction North Ltd has entered administration and we'd like to thank them for their work on the project to date.

"We're pleased we're able to step in and complete the project which will pave the way for regeneration in South Derbyshire and open up opportunities for new housing and business development."

Cllr Mick Mulgrew, one of the South Derbyshire district councillors for the area, said: "You can't help it if a private company goes bust.

"I think maybe there should have been some failsafes built in so that that couldn't happen.

"It has messed everything up for everybody else who wants to and needs to use that road.

"The budgets should be watched. I don't know if anybody got any warning that the company was in trouble, we certainly didn't know there was any trouble. Then all of a sudden we heard it has gone bust.

Cllr Gary Musson, who represents the area on the county council, said: "Most of the concern locally at the moment is about traffic flows. There are more queues as a result of the work.

"Roads are blocked off, which is all well and good if it is facilitating the works but now the work has stalled.

"Anything that would restrict traffic at the moment is a concern to the local population."

He says he is "very sad" that NMCN has gone into administration and hopes staff can gain new employment.

Cllr Musson said the council was working closely with the administrators.

He said: "It affects all of Swadlincote, so I am looking at what can be done to improve traffic in the short-term. This includes potentially removing road closures and monitoring traffic lights but it depends on what can be done safely.

"I can see the purpose behind the project and it does unlock a piece of land for regeneration which would be unusable without the project, it also does provide an alternative route from the A511 and through Swadlincote.

"It would be great if some traffic could avoid Tollgate Island.

"I am just grateful the project stalled at this stage because if it had stalled much earlier it would have been an even bigger nightmare."

Comments on social media refer to how "traffic is worse than it has ever been" in the town as a result of roadworks, including the closures linked to the incomplete bypass.

Congestion in the town often stretches from the ski centre to Tollgate Island, the very issue the route could potentially alleviate.

A suggested improvement is to reopen the closure of Woodhouse Street, past the business centre.

One business owner close to the site commented how customers cannot get to their premises due to the various closures linked with the scheme

A resident said: "I've always said it was road to nowhere and now it's going nowhere."

The total cost of the project is said to be £13.44 million, with a £6.4 million grant from the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, £620,000 from housing developers and the county council funding the remaining sum.

The county council says the route "will relieve some of the congestion by greatly improving the accessibility of Swadlincote to the wider strategic and major road networks".

It says: "Journey times along the A511 are currently impeded at the A511/A514 clock roundabout leading to chronic congestion and a higher than average accident record."

However, planning documents revealed that while improvements to traffic would come with the construction of the bypass, they would be neutralised once the site was developed with homes and businesses, returning congestion to its current state.

Meanwhile, Jim Seymour, the county council's transport strategy manager had said: "I wouldn't pretend that it is any kind of solution to traffic issues in the area, but will serve as an alternative route for people to choose."