Planning permission has been granted for the £14bn project but construction remains on hold while EDF and the Government try to reach an agreement on the price of new nuclear energy generated by the reactors.

EDF said today: “As part of good project management, and to control costs, EDF Energy has taken steps to refocus its activities at its Hinkley Point C project.

“This reflects its priorities ahead of securing the financing necessary for the project.

“In this context much activity including further detailed pre-construction engineering work will continue ahead of the later construction phase.

“This means there will be a reduction in the number of people working on the project for the time being.

“Negotiations with the UK Government to agree a contract for the electricity from Hinkley Point C are making progress.”

More than 5,600 people are expected to be directly employed on the project. A Bouygues TP/Laing O’Rourke joint venture is contractor on the main build.

Another joint venture of Bam Nuttall and Kier has bagged the £100m earthworks contract and Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering the £30m job to build a temporary 500m jetty for construction materials to be shipped in.

A Costain/Sir Robert McAlpine joint venture is in line to win a £200m civils package for tunnels to channel seawater in and out of the plant.

More than 1,200 firms have expressed an interest in being part of the supply chain, with around 57% of the work expected to go to British firms.