The unfinished £4.8 million blue light hub for Furness has been branded a white elephant at a council meeting.

Councillor Ben Shirley criticised the project, which stands half built off the A590 at Ulverston.

Work ground to a halt in August amid a contractual row.

At a meeting with county council officials, the Conservative councillor for Dalton North raised questions about its future.

Coun Shirley addressed a meeting of Barrow Local Committee on Tuesday – a cross-party panel of county councillors representing the area.

He pointed out that Cumbria County Council is currently consulting on a plan by county fire chiefs to look at creating more blue light hubs.

At the meeting in Barrow Town Hall, Coun Shirley asked Mark Clement, community safety manager for Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service, for an update.

Coun Shirley said: “We’ve got a blue light hub in this area, although I don’t know what’s happened to it. Can you shed any light about when it’s going to be finished or in operation?”

Mr Clement said he could not and told councillors: “I can speak to the people working on that and get an answer back to the committee.

“I am not aware of what’s happening at the moment.”

Coun Shirley, the Conservative councillor for Dalton North, said it was questionable that the county council should look at developing new blue light hubs when one remained half finished.

“It’s a humongous white elephant. Or a humongous purple and white-purple elephant,” said Coun Shirley, in a nod to the building’s colour.

The county council has stated in its new plan that it wants to “work with blue light partners to explore the feasibility of developing new hubs across the county”.

Recently, the council said it would need to find a new building firm and hoped that work would restart as soon as possible.

The cash for the hub was won by the council from Government with work starting in March 2017 and an expected completion date of May 2018.

It was planned to become a new base for Cumbria Fire Service to replace its base on The Ellers, Ulverston, and a new base for the North West Ambulance Service, replacing the facilities at Victoria Road, Ulverston.

The plan was it would also provide facilities for Cumbria police, and office accommodation for Cumbria County Council.