ENGINEERS have been called in to repair a £9.2m transport hub’s crumbling surface – again.

Workers were dispatched to fix the tarmac apron of The Hard Interchange on Monday following the defect to blight the site.

The work is part a series of patch-up jobs undertaken at the harbourside facility since it opened in May 2017, which has seen parts of the terminal’s parking surface sinking.

Portsmouth City Council has insisted the multi-million pound bus station’s superstructure was not at any risk of sinking.

Engineers have been called in to repair the crumbling surface of the £9.2m Hard Interchange, which has been blighted with problems since it was built. Photo:Terry Pearson | Other 3rd Party

placeholder image — Engineers have been called in to repair the crumbling surface of the £9.2m Hard Interchange, which has been blighted with problems since it was built. Photo:Terry Pearson | Other 3rd Party

But as previously reported, the authority has launched a major repair project to rip out and replace all of the faulty surface.

However, a legal dispute between the terminal’s designer and contractor, has paralysed the scheme, with the council left locked in the middle of a war of words over who is responsible for the defect.

The result means the city’s authority can only carry out patch repairs as and when needed until a resolution can be reached between the arguing firms.

Councillor Lynne Stagg, Portsmouth’s traffic and transportation boss, said: ‘We're sorry for the inconvenience caused to users of the interchange while temporary repairs continue.

‘Our goal is to replace the surface completely, so it can withstand wear and tear for many years, but first we need to complete discussions with the designer and contractor.

‘Ongoing costs are part of the current discussions.’

The bus apron, the area where coaches pick passengers up from, is made from a lightweight mixture of expanded polystyrene and other materials made specially for Portsmouth.

But it has failed to live up to expectations and has caved in under the weight of the coaches using the terminal.

Deep potholes have repeatedly appeared, blighting the bus station, while heavy rain combined with debris from the cracked surface to create a ‘grey sludge’.

Manchester-based designers RoC Consulting, have remained tight-lipped about the discussions and declined to comment when approached byThe News.

While contractor Osborne has previously told The News it was ‘supporting’ the council to ‘seek a resolution’ and that it was ‘not be appropriate to comment further’ about the issue.