A single landowner demanding ten times more compensation than is being offered by Government, along with other concessions, is holding up work to make a dangerous South Shore road junction safer.

But the landowner has been warned that if no agreement is achieved soon Government is prepared to use its ultimate power to issue a compulsory purchase order.

The road improvement scheme started in January has come to a halt after hitting a stumbling block over negotiations with one of the six landowners involved.

The final landowner still to agree terms with Government is believed to be Gibbons Company, which owns land associated with the A1 Fine Foods Market near the junction of Collectors Hill and South Road.

A company representative yesterday said its lawyers remained in talks with the Ministry of Works and Engineering.

Explaining the impasse, Works and Engineering minister David Burch said roadworks had been halted because negotiations to acquire a strip of land with a single landowner had stalled.

Negotiations with the other five had landowners have been successfully concluded to allow W&E to install traffic lights and a one-way system at AP Owen Road with construction of an access road behind the A1 supermarket.

Sen. Burch said Government had ?established a fee for (land) acquisitions for road improvements, pays reasonable conveyance costs, offers certain accommodation works, landscaping and rehabilitation works?.

He said: ?The sixth and final landowner has demanded compensation almost ten times greater than the amount currently proposed as well as excessive concessions.

?Negotiations are continuing ? but I caution that there is a time limit on these negotiations as we recognise that we have the option of compulsory purchase ? a course of action that I will not be reluctant to take should reasonableness not prevail.?

All the materials and equipment needed to finish the work are on Island and Sen. Burch estimates it will take six more weeks to complete the job once the land issue has been settled.