HEALTH bosses are still waiting for construction work to restart on the troubled Stourport Medical Centre following the collapse of its contractor.

Dozens of workers lost their jobs when building contractor Arthur M Griffiths (AMG) went into administration early last month.

The firm was appointed to build the new £7 million medical centre on Dunley Road, which will replace the Stourport Health Centre and York House Medical Centre.

In March, Wyre Forest Health Partnership celebrated reaching the half-way point of the development and hoped to welcome patients this Autumn.

Work on the centre has now ground to a halt whilst property developers gbpartnerships source a new contractor.

Health bosses have been left "disappointed" by the delay - with work now hoping to be completed by Spring 2022.

A spokesperson for the Stourport Medical Centre team said: "External works on the building are 99 per cent complete and once the new building contractor is in place, they should be able to complete the works within approximately four months."

"How long it will take to appoint a new contractor is uncertain, but completion by next spring is hoped for.

"Team SMC have been through lots of challenges over the last 12 months and this is just another hurdle that we will overcome and make us a stronger team as a result."

Clare Nock, chief executive at Wyre Forest Health Partnership, said: “We are still in that phase of confirming a new contractor, but everybody is putting maximum effort in to ensure the build happens and it’s completed as quickly as possible.

“It’s important that patients know that there’s no doubt that it will still happen. Inevitably this is going to create a delay.

“Whilst it’s really disappointing - it will happen.”

Previously this year, work was delayed following an industry wide problem with supplies for essential materials.