A mystery cable has delayed Farnham’s controversial £900,000 Gostrey Meadow toilet project by six weeks and left the town council facing costs of at least £20,000.

The bill could rise to £40,000 after unidentified cables were discovered during preparation work for the new amenity building, which will replace the existing amenity block at Gostrey Meadow.

The project has already faced questions over its cost and value for money, with the latest setback discussed by Farnham Town Council last Thursday.

Farnham Town Council, SSEN and contractors found themselves in a “stalemate” as attempts to establish who owned the cables, and whether they were live, continued for several weeks.

The meeting heard that SSEN could not carry out a spike test to determine whether the cables were live because it did not own them.

The town council even contacted the Ministry of Defence to establish whether the cables belonged to it, but the MOD confirmed they did not.

With no owner identified, the council now intends to press ahead with the project and build around the cables, while retaining access in case somebody comes forward in the future.

But councillors discussed the potential risks if an owner subsequently needed to use or gain access to them.

The unusual situation has also created an insurance problem.

The council investigated obtaining special liability insurance but was unable to find a provider willing to offer cover.

It was therefore proposed that the council self-insure from its reserves so work on the amenity building can continue, while it continues to investigate insurance options.

Work could not continue as planned while investigations into the unidentified infrastructure were carried out, resulting in the six-week delay.

The financial impact is expected to be at least £20,000 but could rise to £40,000, although the additional cost remains within the project's contingency.

Farnham Town Council leader Cllr George Murray said: “I was hoping to see progress being made on the Amenity building when I returned from holiday. But unfortunately these things happen sometimes.”

The amenity building will replace Gostrey Meadow’s existing public toilets and also provide baby-changing facilities and storage for equipment used at events.

The scheme has previously attracted criticism over its cost and value for money.

The ownership and purpose of the cables remain unknown.