The total cost of Bath's 'ring of steel' has risen past £3 million as inflation, delays, and additional costs inflate the price of the anti-terrorism measures.

Work to replace the temporary gates on York Street with permanent installations will begin in January but work on the other streets will be delivered in phases through 2023 and 2024, subject to Bath and North East Somerset Council's February budget.

£2,181,000 has already been allocated to the security measures but the council's cabinet member for transport Manda Rigby is being asked to approve an additional £849,000 towards the project, taking the total cost past £3m.

A council report stated scaling back the scheme had been considered but was ruled out. It said: "Any mitigations to save costs will seriously compromise the security provision within the city centre security scheme."

The report stated costs had risen due to various reasons, including significant costs for traffic management and trial excavations, as well as considering a large number of alternative traffic plans.

It added that delays caused by the public inquiry over the works on York Street meant that the contract was put out to tender in a "high inflationary period," with contractors' prices rising by 7.9% in 2022 instead of the 1.5% they had increased by in 2021.

Ms Rigby said: "We're not the only local authority faced with rising costs and shortage of resources as a result of Brexit, Covid and the war in Ukraine. Higher inflation and price increases have had an inevitable impact on all our cost forecasts.

"On this project specifically, the delay has been caused by Covid and the public inquiry and there has been cost inflation and supply shortages since this scheme was first agreed. This means that to implement it will cost more money, hence this phased approach combined with looking for other sources of funding to finish the works.

"In the interim, we will continue to protect our residents, businesses, workers and visitors via manually operated barriers on points other than the York Street automatic implementation.

"If we don't invest in compliant security measures as soon as is practical, the council will be at risk of being negligent in its Duty of Care to protect Public Safety if an incident occurs."

The measures are being brought in around Bath after a report by the National Counter Terrorism Security Office identified areas around Bath Abbey and the Roman Baths as crowded areas which should be protected from the potential for vehicle-borne terrorist attacks.