WORKMEN have had to dig up a newly-transformed area of the city centre, only days after improvements had been finished.

Workers from electricity firm Northern Powergrid have dug a large hole in the pavement at Hall Ings, where Bradford Council contractors had only just finished laying new stone flags as part of a £1 million city-centre spruce up.

A Council spokesman said the improvement works themselves had caused a power failure, meaning Northern Powergrid was now having to carry out emergency repairs.

She said the Council's contractor would be expected to pay for the cost of these electricity repairs works, as well as putting the new paving back how it was.

She said: "Unfortunately emergency work had to be carried out due to a power failure when water got into equipment.

"Northern Powergrid will be seeking recompense from the Council's contractors for the cost of this work.

"The paving will be re-instated to the same quality as before, at no cost to the Council, and we apologise for any disruption."

The improvements, which began at the beginning of January, have seen the paving outside the Bradford Interchange station given a new look, with old concrete flags removed to make way for stone paving and newly planted trees.

It is part of a major scheme to improve the area between the city's two rail stations, which is being funded by the Government and overseen by Bradford Council.

The Hall Ings section of the work had only been completed last week, before Northern Powergrid's contractors moved in on Tuesday, pulling up the newly-laid flags to dig the large trench.

The Council spokesman said: "This emergency repair only affects a small piece of the ongoing work between the two stations which is costing around £1 million as part of the City Centre Growth Zone."

A spokesman for Northern Powergrid said: "We are carrying out emergency works at Hall Ings. That work is being carried out after our equipment was damaged."

She said no-one's power supplies had been affected by the work, thanks to the firm's "very clever engineering".

Val Summerscales, secretary of the Bradford Chamber of Trade, said while the situation was "disappointing", it couldn't be helped if the works were an emergency.

She said: "You can't do anything about emergency works. They have to take priority and precedence."