The Welsh governments £30m Fibrespeed project, which is laying 200 miles of fibre optic cable between businesses in Caernarfon and Wrexham directly into the UK's broadband network, has been hit by controversy after it emerged that some contractors had not been paid.

BBC News Online reports that the sub-contractors are allegedly owed money by a Manchester-based firm known as United Formwork. The assembly government claims not to be at fault and notes that its main contractor, Geo, had not employed those concerned:


It's understood that others are owed significantly more, with one Cheshire based firm awaiting a payment of no less than £250,000! Sadly United Formwork has been unreachable for comment and there are fears that some businesses may collapse if the issue cannot be resolved.

The report notes that an investigation has now been opened by Geo and its main contractor North Midlands Construction. The first findings are due to surface sometime within the next few days.