The mayor of Huntingdon has branded the unfinished Chequers Court development “an eyesore” after months without any noticeable progress being made.

Exactly two years after the Inland Revenue building was pulled down, Huntingdon has been left with a building site in an area where new, high quality retail has been promised.

Councillor Bill Hensley said: “It makes the town quite a mess; personally it is no better than it was when the tax office building was there, and, in fact, it is worse now.

“I believe that this is detrimental to the town centre, leaving in it such a mess, Churchmanor (the developer) need to get their finger out and do some work – it is a real eyesore. But it is my understanding that work has restarted.”

The Hunts Post reported in April 2014 that work was due to start that autumn but, since then, only minor construction work has taken place, including the erection of hoardings and the relocation of electricity and gas supplies.

Huntingdonshire District Council closed Trinity Place car park in September to allow builders to move on to the site but, when approached this week, the authority was unable to provide a further update on progress.

A spokesman for Churchmanor Estates said: “Although no building work is happening at the moment, things are still happening but Churchmanor are not in a position to comment at the moment.”

Although supermarket chain Waitrose’s plan to move onto the site collapsed in June last year, a number of retailers have reportedly show interest in the second phase of the development, including Marks & Spencer Food, Next and Ask Italian.

A spokesperson for M&S said: “Whilst we are constantly looking at sites for new stores and we do have an interest in Huntingdon, at this moment in time we have nothing to confirm.”

Next and Ask Italian were unavailable to confirm whether they would have a store opening in the near future.