Men at work again after duchess officially opens beleaguered council HQ

Days after scaffolding was removed from Staffordshire County Council's flagship headquarters, workers have returned to continue repairs.

Cherrypickers and metal fencing have been installed around the £38million showpiece Staffordshire Place building, which is more than 15 months behind schedule following large-scale repair work.

Council chiefs previously said work was '99.9 per cent' complete with just some remedial work remaining after a visit by Sophie the Duchess of Wessex to officially open the building in Stafford on Tuesday.

But residents today hit out at the scale of the resumed works.

Labour councillor Frank James, for Holmcroft ward, said he had been inundated with calls from shoppers and passers-by complaining about the unfinished building. "I think the county council should tell people how much it cost to clear all the equipment away for the visit of the duchess, only to put it back again days later," he said.

"It was all moved across the way when the duchess came to visit. Then it was back again. It doesn't look like it's almost done."

One Stafford resident, who did not wish to be named, said he had passed the building and believed it was 'not finished by a long way'. "On returning to my car this afternoon we walked through the walkway between both buildings outside the main entrance, they have removed dozens of flagstones and have dug down about 2ft all the way along the building," he said.

"There are six very large platform lifts on six sides of the building and the doors to the registry area were not working. So they have not finished by a long way."

Staffordshire Place first opened in October 2011 but within weeks, a small amount of cladding on the Tipping Street building fell off. All 300 stone tiles had to be removed and reattached but work has been carried out at the contractor's expense.

Repair work had been due for completion by January 2012. Councillor Mark Winnington, cabinet member for assets and the environment, said today: "There is only a small amount of remedial work left to do, including some repaving. Rigorous testing will be carried out to ensure the work is completed to the high standards we demand.

"All the major work, which has been done at the contractor's expense, is now complete, and there will be considerably fewer workmen around the building."

He added the new headquarters, which brings together around 1,500 staff from 17 different sites, was contributing to the regeneration of Stafford and was saving a quarter of a million pounds a year in building costs. It is claimed Staffordshire Place will also save the county council £370,000 a year in print and paper costs.

The Countess of Wessex arrived on Tuesday to take a tour of Staffordshire Place and perform the official opening ceremony.

She was given an hour-long tour of the building and met staff, students from local primary schools and the county council's principal archaeologist Stephen Dean. Mr Dean chatted to Sophie about his work with the Staffordshire Hoard. She also visited Staffordshire Registration Office, where she met newlywed couples and a young baby whose birth had just been registered there.