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to cme foyyry hey Repaving firm 'was not the best choice' Senior county council officers chose a company to repave Cornmarket Street against professional advice because of concerns about cost, an inquiry has heard.

The latest revelation about the problematic scheme came at the public inquiry into how the project was beset by financial problems.

It heard that shortly after Stenoak was awarded the contract, the company went into receivership -- plunging the project into chaos.

The scheme eventually spiralled in cost to £5.1m -- twice the original estimate.

County councillor John Power, who is sitting on an independent panel set up to investigate the project, said: "We have taken an important step forward because we now have a situation where the contractor was chosen against the advice of the people designing the scheme.

"And that tells me that county council officers were more concerned about the costs than they were about how the scheme would look and how it would be finished.

"The original project cost was £2.25m and the city council was putting in £1.8m -- so costs should not have been a significant factor in the officers' decision. It's a big sorry mess, from start to finish. "But we are trawling our way towards the truth and I'm happy about that."

The scrutiny panel is being chaired by Rex Knight, the vice chancellor of Oxford Brookes University, and also includes representatives from both the city and county councils.

At the heart of the investigation is the public realm strategy, which outlined the design for the ambitious scheme --including the granite paving blocks which had to be removed when cracks started to appear in the surface in 2001.

A procession of witnesses, including the county council's former director of environmental services, David Young, has been called to give evidence.

During an earlier hearing Mr Young said the project was flawed because staff were under "tremendous pressure".

He said the the scheme was rushed because the city and county councils were anxious to spend the money, traders in Cornmarket Street were keen to see the work completed and the public was "baying" for it to be finished.

He added that the timescale was unrealistic.