CEREDIGION council has failed to meet a deadline to give information about the final cost of Aberystwyth’s new bandstand.

The Cambrian News submitted a Freedom of Information request for the details after being told that the cost of the bandstand had soared by what is believed to be an additional £300,000.

The council was supposed to release the details to the Cambrian News by Thursday, 2 March, but now says it needs to discuss the issue with contractors W B Griffiths & Sons, based in Pembrokeshire.

The council now says it will respond by 17 March.

Sources insist that the council ended up paying £1.5m for the bandstand in total after initial estimates suggested the facility would cost £900,000.

That increased to £1.2m in November 2014, with the council admitting that bids from contractors had been higher than anticipated amid concerns over weather conditions affecting the project.

Despite the authority admitting that the initial cost had increased to £1.2m, no details over the claimed additional £300,000 cost have been made public.

Councillors said they had heard that there had been additional costs, but that no report had been made to a public meeting of the council.

A report into the bandstand project is expected to go before the council’s audit committee which next meets on Wednesday, 15 August.