Infamous roadworks at one of Swindon's roundabouts have been paused after a delay removing an asbestos pipe.

The roadworks at Covingham's Piccadilly roundabout have missed several deadlines, but now the council has confirmed that locals will have to wait an indefinite amount of time for them to finish. 

In the latest edition of the New Eastern Villages Newsletter the council said they couldn't continue until Thames Water had removed an asbestos water pipe.

"The widening of Covingham Drive, which forms part of the overall scheme, has been paused as Thames Water has been unable to complete the removal of the asbestos water pipe (close to The Messenger pub). The works could not be completed within our timescales due to the increased cost associated with the delay.

"Thames Water was unable to complete this work due to scheduling and resourcing issues. We will allow Thames Water to go on site and finish this work when they are able to do so."

Consequently, this scheme does not have a completion date, but the council believes this delay won't cause further traffic issues

"As the New Eastern Villages development will be built over the next 15 years, the new junction's full traffic capacity will not be needed for five to 10 years. We do not believe that pausing this small section of works will be detrimental to overall traffic flow in the area."

The works were due to finish in Summer 2021, and then Winter 2021.