THE £1.9m overspend on a town's new link road was caused by a number of management errors by a council, an independent report has revealed.

But bosses at Darlington Borough Council said last night the problems would not be repeated because an in-house management restructuring has taken place.

No disciplinary action is to be taken against officers.

Opposition councillors last night blamed the cabinet member in charge of transport for the problems.

The council announced in November that the cost of the Eastern Transport Corridor - linking the A66 to Haughton Road - had rocketed by 15 per cent from £12.5m to £14.4m.

The authority's cabinet committee ordered an independent inquiry and EC Harris - a Billingham-based firm of construction consultants - was paid £22,000 to carry it out.

The results, published yesterday, reveal a series of management mistakes, including:

Licences for the removal of protected newts were not obtained in time - which led to a four-month delay in the start date;

Construction firm Birse was awarded the contract before a price for the costs incurred by the delay was agreed;

The budget did not include compensation claims - which could total £600,000 - that could be made by residents whose house prices were adversely affected by the works;

Alterations to service lines such as gas and electricity could cost £872,000 more than expected;

The cost of traffic signals increased by £300,000.

The report finds that the council could have saved money when great crested newts were discovered at the site.

It states: "The work could have been re-tendered and, if it had, the council would have had certainty that it was committed to a competitive price for the works."

The report also concludes that council staff should receive more training in handling contract negotiations.

"We recommend that if the council decides to use this contract in future, it either undertakes appropriate training or engages professional assistance to advise on its more onerous elements that would affect the council's liabilities," the consultants said.

The council's chief executive, Ada Burns, said that £1.9m was the maximum the council expects to pay over the budget, and she was confident the final cost would be lower.

She said a management restructuring in autumn last year, in which a new senior post of assistant director - highways was created, had addressed many of the faults highlighted by the report.

"There were no surprises in the report," she said.

"In many ways, this has told us what we knew - which is something we have dealt with in terms of our overall structure last autumn.

"The report has not identified any particular fault on the part of individuals. This project evolved over many years, and many of the officers are no longer with the council, so there is nothing to be achieved by a disciplinary investigation."

Conservative councillor Charles Johnson and the Liberal Democrat Martin Swainson blamed the Labour cabinet member for transport, Councillor David Lyonette, for the problems.

Councillor Johnson said the spiralling costs, and the overspend on the town's Pedestrian Heart project, were both the responsibility of Coun Lyonette's department.

"Clearly there are management problems, but there are also cabinet member problems," he said.

"Coun Lyonette is the cabinet member responsible. It is all happening on his watch."

Coun Swainston said: "I am absolutely fuming about this.

"The buck always stops with the elected member. It all comes back to Coun Lyonette - he is responsible for green-lighting things like this and he has been found seriously wanting."

Coun Lyonette said last night: "Some of the particular problems on this project stem from many years ago. It goes back a long way - long before my time as a cabinet member.

"Members are not being criticised in this report, the faults were with the organisation and the structure of the council.

"The Eastern Transport Corridor job is on time, it has been efficiently handled and it looks like a quality job."

Councillor John Williams, leader of the council, said: "These findings make it clear that the council's capacity to manage a project of this nature needed to be strengthened and officers have done this.

"But it is clear that we must do better in future."

The council is still waiting to hear if the Department for Transport will grant more funding for the scheme.

The report will be discussed at a meeting of the council's resources scrutiny committee on May 1