Parts of the street have been dug up and left surrounded by wire fencing and now Shropshire Council has admitted it is also "extremely dissatisfied" with progress.

Forming part of the £12 million Shrewsbury Integrated Transport Package, works began on the town's main shopping route in April.

Pavements have been dug up and wire fencing installed outside a number of shops.

Contractors Casey were engaged by the council to renovate the street by removing outdated and unsightly pavers and replace them with York stone setts while also introducing new seating and planting areas along with up-to-date street furniture.

But since then, very little work has been done, the town's MP Daniel Kawczynski said.

He has now held talks with the chief executive of Shropshire Council and requested a meeting with the managing director of Rochdale-based Casey.

It is understood that Chris Casey, the MD of the firm, travelled to Shrewsbury yesterday to see the problem for himself after it had been brought to his attention by Mr Kawczynski.

Mr Kawczynski said: "It seems that Chris Casey is oblivious to the chaos they have created.

"I am making very robust representations to Shropshire Council that something needs to be done.

Rattle

"I have suggested to Clive Wright, chief executive of Shropshire Council, that they take legal action unless the work starts now and that they get a guarantee from Casey this week when it is due to finish. I intend to rattle a lot of cages on this."

Clive Wright, Shropshire Council’s chief executive, said: “The council has been in ongoing dialogue with Casey since the works began. We are extremely dissatisfied with their performance.

"The purpose of the works is to renew utilities which run under the paving so that when we replace the existing with new paving we don’t have to disturb or dig it up to make repairs. We plan to install new paving later on this year.

"This should be a positive story of the council thinking ahead to avoid digging up new paving, but we are being let down.

“We are now looking at appropriate action to ensure that our town centre receives the standard of work, work method and communication that it deserves.”

Mr Kawczynski added: "Work seems to have come to a complete halt. I will be telling the council that unless something radical happens to show a massive investment then they have no option other than to look at what legal options that can take, either that or they need someone else on the job."

Mr Casey was not available for comment.