London Luton Airport ordered a second suspension of works on the Luton Direct Air-Rail Transit construction project after a local pressure group alerted the council to failures to comply with Site Operating Procedures during the coronavirus pandemic.

Friends of Wigmore Park pressure group took photos on timelapse cameras at two different locations on the project to highlight failures.

This led the £119m project to be closed for a second time after work had resumed following the initial industry-wide lockdown last month to review site safety procedures.

Ciaran Scanlon, LLAL programme delivery director, said: “We have only allowed the site to recommence works after a detailed and rigorous assessment of updated protocols provided by the contractor.

“A number of improvements have been identified for implementation on site, all of which will be subject to daily monitoring.

“The health and safety of the workforce on all our sites is our number one priority.”

He added: “We will keep the situation under review and, should we consider that the contractor is falling short of their obligations to meet developing national Site Operating Procedures laid out by the Construction Leadership Council and Public Health England, we will not hesitate to take whatever action is appropriate.”