Whitchurch Civic Centre revamp will not be completed on time

Work to refurbish a town's civic centre is set to take longer than planned to complete and will cost more than expected, it has been revealed.

Builders carrying out the £1.6 million refurbishment of Whitchurch Civic Centre have encountered problems while working on the 1970s building, according to the town's mayor Rob Hewson.

He said the work was now likely to finish in April – a number of weeks later than expected – and added it was likely the bill would increase.

Work to improve the facade and remodel the inside of the building in High Street began this year and was expected to be completed in March.

Councillor Hewson said: "As with any 1970s buildings you are going to come across a few things that you didn't expect to come up.

"It is only going to run over by a couple of weeks, it's not a major setback. It will be open by April. We're not sure yet how much extra it is going to cost."

Neil Willcox, commissioning manager at Shropshire Council, said: "We are dealing with a building from the 1960s and 70s, and we would expect a lot of problems with a building of that age.

"We have uncovered a significant number of issues which we have had to react to.

"We are trying to manage it as best we can with the town council, and want to reduce all uncertainties over the completion date."

Mr Willcox said construction work will stop for two weeks over Christmas to help shopkeepers, and that no further road closures will be needed.

Scaffolding is set to go up on the front of the building on January 17.