The 210-place Highwood Copse Primary School was initially to be built by Kier, but after some delays the council decided to rebid the project because of cost increases.

This process set the project completion back a year from the September 2018 delivery date first planned with Kier.

The retendering process saw the council appoint Dawnus Contraction late last summer to deliver the £5m school project, which is located in the grounds of Newbury College.

But then construction ground to a halt six weeks ago when Dawnus went to the wall.

Now the council is planning to bid the project for a third time and has had to delay further the opening until Spring 2020.

It is understood to be running the race between two contractors previously involved in bidding to speed up the process.

Previous bidders are understood to have been Beard, Feltham Construction and Walker Construction.