Electricity firm SSE has pledged there will be no repeat of the debacle that has seen months of major Dundee roadworks abandoned.
West End residents have faced weeks of disruption, but the failure of new electrical cables to meet safety tests means preparatory works have ceased.
Roads will now be reinstated and the work will then begin again from scratch in the New Year.
SEE has promised that it will take “unusual steps” to ensure that the second attempt goes off without a hitch.
A spokesman for the firm said: “This cable is specially constructed so it can be installed through the existing steel pipework that SSE have connected between Dudhope and Glenagnes substations.
“The cable was tested at all stages of its construction and the failure only became apparent when all the individual components were assembled and tested.”
He said the second batch of cable would be “fully tested two months ahead of the revised installation”.
“This is very unusual and has been agreed due to this failure of the first batch of cable.”
West End councillor Fraser Macpherson said: “To say it is a disappointment to learn this has all been for nothing and that SSE will be coming back to repeat it all again next year is something of an understatement.
“This has proved to be a costly exercise in terms of both the financial cost to the company and inconvenience to local residents and lessons must be learned.”
