Ipswich council chiefs have insisted there has been no delay to work on Crown car park – even though nothing has started after it closed on Monday.

The car park was shut to allow work to start on building a new multi-storey which is due to be open just after Christmas.

But people living nearby said nothing has happened apart from temporary fencing being put up at the entrance and exit to the park: “They could have kept it open for a few more days and got more money from people,” said one resident.

A spokesman for the borough said surveyors had needed to check over the surface car park and were marking where services including power and water mains ran before work could start.

He said full security fences around the site would be going up from Tuesday and full construction work on the new building would be underway on the site within the next few weeks.