Councillor urges public 'not to worry' about proposed Britishvolt factory in Cambois, and insists construction is on schedule

There have been concerns about Britishvolt’s electric car battery plant in Cambois, near Blyth, after a report in the Guardian suggested construction would be severely limited until February, and the project had been put on “life support” in a bid to cut spending.

The gigaplant has been heralded as a game-changer for the area and is set to create around 8,000 new jobs.

The area’s ward councillor, Alex Wallace, said he was “absolutely still confident” work on the 95-hectare site was progressing as planned.

He said: “I’ve spoken to the chairman and it’s very much as has been reported. I live a quarter of a mile from it, and activity is going on.

“People want to see the piling and steelwork going up, but that’s not going to happen until February.

“We’ve had so many false dawns so you can understand people’s misgivings – but you can see the levelling up that’s happened there with JDR cables going up there as well.

“My message would be don’t worry. I’m absolutely still confident. I know Boris [Johnson] is going, but levelling up is a party policy.

“It’s not my party of course, but there’s no better levelling up than building the factory here and bringing the railway line back here.”

County council leader Glen Sanderson also moved to reassure residents, and said it would be doing all it could to make sure work continued.

He said: “We continue to work closely with Britishvolt and are assisting them in unlocking opportunities for further funding.

“We are confident they are doing all they can to counteract any impact they may face due to the current economic situation and they have already put in place measures. Their funding strategy is clear and follows already tried and tested routes on major projects like this.

“This project is extremely important to the council and we will do all we can to support it going forward by working in partnership with Britishvolt.”

A statement from Britishvolt said: “Delivery of key materials to site continues along with project preparation activities.

"This will be followed in February with significant works such as piling, which will prepare the site for structural steel work.”