Closing submissions have been made in the claim of £1.7 million against Blackburn with Darwen Council from the company it put in charge of completing the bus station on Ainsworth Street.

Thomas Barnes and Sons claims it was forced out of business by the local authority.

The Bury based company went out of business after the project where costs soared from £4.7m to £8.3m and the deadline was extended from December 2014 to July 2016.

The case between the two parties has been taking place at Manchester County Court.

Thomas Barnes and Sons, which was based in Bury, has said they were hit by unavoidable delays due to flaws in the building.

But representing Blackburn with Darwen Council, Lynne McCafferty QC said these problems had been exaggerated.

She said the issue of deflection, which meant two steal beams had to be replaced, led to Thomas Barnes and Sons raising other concerns which were ultimately dismissed.

Ms McCafferty argued other areas such as the concourse were not “tainted with the same issue.”

She said the claims there were unavoidable delays were not coming from “contemporaneous reports” and the appropriate time for delay was 27 days, not the figure of more than 130 given by the claimants.

Jennifer Jones, representing Thomas Barnes and Sons, said the council had “assumed the worst of the company” at every stage.

She also rejected a suggestion made earlier in the proceedings there were plans for Thomas Barnes and Sons to be wound up at the end of 2013, before he project began.

She said there was a plan to transfer it into different companies as part of a “marketing exercise.”

Ms Jones also said that deflection was “an issue” and had caused problems for the company.

She also said in terms of delay there was a report which said there were “design flaws” which were going to “lead to deflection.”

The hearing, before His Honour Judge Stephen Davies, continues.