A UTILITY company says it is not responsible for severe delays in renovations to sheltered housing in Tadcaster - because it was not employed to do the work.

Yesterday Terry Crossland, Selby District Council's property development manager, blamed the initial delays to the renovations programme on Transco. But a spokesman for Transco said it had no record of any work on properties in Firtree Crescent, Tadcaster.

"We do not have a monopoly and there are many other companies employed by contractors and utilities companies to undertake these installations," the spokesman said.

Updated: 10:59 Wednesday, May 28, 2003