PUBLIC SERVICES was under pressure yesterday to explain why its expensive consultants had failed to come up with favoured options that are likely to shave millions off the airport runway repair bill.

Former pilot Deputy Jan Kuttelwascher, whose motion in December sent the department away to think again in such a way that £5m. might be saved, said the States had wasted money.

An estimated £1m. has been spent on consultants for the project so far.

And it emerged yesterday that Blue Islands was not consulted over the latest runway options.

Deputy Kuttelwascher believes that the entire venture was flawed from the start because the so-called Pavements Project Board, formed in 2006, was not up to the task.

‘It was the board set up to get the ball rolling, there were a couple of lawyers and deputies, but nobody with any practical aviation expertise,’ he said.

He could not understand why, through the life of the project, advice had been flown in before local expertise had been sought.

‘Nobody in the department knew anything about the subject, so they just went to consultants,’ he said.

• Public Services was approached for a comment but failed to respond.