Portsmouth City Council leader says rising construction costs which have added £5m on to new Bransbury Park leisure centre pricetag are 'very worrying'

Gerald Vernon-Jackson said price increases, including more than 75 per cent hikes to steel and timber supplies, are coupled with 'extensive delays' in receiving materials

'We are becoming quite a big developer in the city and if construction costs are going through the roof, as they appear to be, that's going to be very problematic,' he said at Tuesday's cabinet meeting.

'The feedback I get now is it's quite often difficult to get people to bid for things because contractors are so busy. There's real pressure.'

The price increases have been partly blamed for a need to spend £5m more than expected on the construction of the Bransbury Park leisure centre and are affecting other major development projects, including work to create capacity for special needs school placements.

But it has also affected simpler maintenance work with a cabinet report saying tender prices are now 25 per cent higher than 2020.

It says rising costs are due to a series of factors, including increased global construction demand, logistics difficulties and 'complications resulting from Brexit' which have reduced labour supply.