WORK has finally re-started on a beleaguered care home project almost three years behind schedule after construction was brought to a halt when a building firm went bust.

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Work was initially scheduled to begin in July 2012 on the £7m, 60-bed care facility on the corner of Greengate Street and Risedale Road in Barrow, with completion penciled in for summer 2013.

Called Parkview Gardens, the development was designed to replace four care homes in the area and provide care for older adults, with a particular emphasis on those with dementia.

The project was delayed for over a year because of drainage issues and work finally began in October 2013. But in March 2015, within weeks of completion, main contractor GB Building Solutions went into administration, throwing the care home into uncertainty and leaving local sub-contractors tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket. 

Then in April of last year, Cumbria County Council revealed there was a light at the end of the tunnel in the appointment of a new main contractor - Esh Border Construction, to finish the job. 

However, in January of this year, the council admitted to the Evening Mail that Esh still hadn't officially been appointed and no work had been carried out at the care home since GB went bust, despite the vast majority of the construction being complete with just the tiling, some plastering and flat roof work outstanding.

Workmen have now been spotted at the site and the council has confirmed that work has now finally re-started, with the first residents set to be able to move into the property by August. 

A spokesman for the county council said: "Following a competitive tender exercise, a new contractor was appointed, work has started and is scheduled to be completed in June ready for the home to be occupied in July/August."