THE contractor building Taunton's long-awaited inner relief road won't commit to a finishing date - almost two years after it should have been completed.

The £22 million Northern Inner Distributor Road between Staplegrove Road's junction with Chip Lane and Priory Avenue was originally due to open in the spring of 2015 but has been plagued with delays.

Towards the end of last year contractors Carillion pledged to finish the work by January, but the company looks set to miss that deadline with plenty of work still to be done.

A spokesman for the company said this week: "We continue to work closely with the council to complete the NIDR project.”

Carillion is in dispute with Somerset County Council over the final bill, having slapped in a demand for several million pounds more than the original demand, which the authority is disputing.

A County Hall spokesman said earlier this month: "We remain in dispute with Carillion but continue to push for completion of the NIDR as soon as possible in the new year."