BUILDERS working on the new Saints stadium have been left thousands of pounds out of pocket after the subcontractor employing them slid into administration.

The Star has learned up to 40 workmen who had been constructing the framework for the rapidly emerging arena have not been paid after North East based MBBC Ltd ceased trading.

The builders were given just hours notice before being laid off at the Peasley Cross construction site a fortnight ago. They have since been dismayed to learn that wages have not been paid into their bank accounts.

It is believed up to half of the builders are owed a fortnight’s pay of about £1,000 and the others a weekly wage of about £500.

They have been told to write to Gordon Goldie and Allan Kelly of Tait Walker chartered accountants, who have been appointed joint administrators for MBBC Ltd, to make claims for wages owed to them.

The Star was contacted by a number of angry builders this week. Many of them had been working in three man bricklayer and labourer gangs for the firm, who had been subcontracted by Scottish-based Barr Construction, the company tasked with building the £25m stadium.

Mark Malone, a father-of-two who has an eight week old baby son, said: “We were told we were being laid off and given about five hours’ notice.

“Then we learned the company had gone bust and the wages hadn’t gone into our bank accounts. I’d been working down there for three months and there was about five weeks work left.

“The talk is another subcontractor has already been brought in to do the work. We’ve been in touch with Barr but they have not phoned us back yet.

“We are contacting the administrators but not holding out too much hope, we fear we’ll be left at the bottom of the list.”

Mr Malone, aged 34 and from Liverpool, added:“It is hard when you have a family to feed. I’ve been saying that it is a really prestigious development and there will be thousands of people using that stairwell I built and using that lift shaft we created – work we have all now done for free.”

Barr Construction had not responded to the Star’s phone calls at the time of going to press.

However, it is understood that MBBC Ltd going into administration will not affect progress at the 18,000 stadium, which is still expected to be handed over to Saints at the end of October.