Conservative Group Leader Cllr Graham Jones commented: “It is premature to announce that the partnership will be dissolved as this has yet to be approved by members. It could well be that the Conservative group is in control of the Council before this matter is settled."

Cllr Jones continued: “We will decide whether to support any termination deal when it is presented to Full Council. To date no final details have been presented to us. Under no circumstances will the Conservative Group approve a deal which disadvantages the Council tax payer. If the deal is not good enough we expect the contract to be honoured by Amey.”

Cllr Jones concluded: “The whole handling of this contract has been mismanaged by the Lib Dems from start to finish. The previous Lib Dem leader did not even bother to read the contract, instead they rushed into the agreement against our advice and the current sorry mess is a result of that short-termism. It is about time they started to listen to our advice if the Council is to stop lurching from one crisis to another.”