A Somerset councillor has called for an official inquiry into a "truly appalling" regeneration project in Glastonbury following the death of a local businessman's wife.

Jonathan Wilkins, who runs the Wilkins Safety Group near Langport, has been working on the regeneration of a building off the A39 Street Road in Glastonbury since 2023.

The Life Factory, while associated with the Red Brick Building Community Centre, operates independently, with its own management and funding structures.

Mr Wilkins told a Somerset Council meeting on March 26 that Angela Wilkins, his wife of 35 years, had taken her own life five days earlier (March 21) due to the stress he had experienced on the troubled project.

Conservative councillor Sue Osborne has now called for a formal inquiry into the circumstances leading up to Mrs Wilkins' death and for the council to make "interim payments" to the affected contractors ahead of an official audit being published.

The Red Brick Building project had an original budget of just over £3m – of which £2.77m came from the town deal, with the remainder being sourced from match funding.

The council 'paused' the project in June 2024 and requested an external audit be carried out by the South West Audit Partnership (SWAP) to allow the situation to be resolved.

Mr Wilkins claimed that he was owed £23,746 for work he had carried out to date on the project, and said another contractor was "virtually suicidal" because he was owed nearly £300,000.

Speaking at the full council meeting in Bridgwater on March 26, he said: "My wife became very upset seeing me struggle with this whole fiasco. Last Friday [March 21], she took her own life.

"Thank you, Somerset Council and Red Brick – not only have you not paid me, you've stolen my wife. We were married for 35 years and you have robbed me of her.

"It will cost me between £8,000 and £10,000 to have a funeral – I haven't got that because you've still got it."

Both deputy leader Liz Leyshon and Dr Lynne Sedgmore CBE, who chairs the Glastonbury town deal board, have offered their "deepest condolences" to Mr Wilkins and his family following his public statement.

Ms Osborne (who represents Ilminster and the neighbouring villages) said the situation made her "sick to her stomach" and that someone had to be held accountable for these events.

Ms Osborne – the shadow portfolio holder for economic development, planning and assets – told the full council: "I'd like to record my condolences to Mr Wilkins and his family. I think it was very brave, courageous and dignified of them to come forward and tell us the problems that they've had.

"I find it quite shocking that when there's problems with a regeneration project, it can potentially lead to a business that had contracted in good faith with us not getting paid and winding up facing personal ruination, not just of business life but his family life as well.

"He has been denied a happy and fulfilling retirement with his wife. It is truly appalling and genuinely leaves me feeling sick to my stomach.

"How on Earth has a council, which is supposed to be able to pay its bills and should be a secure source of finance to a contracting body, got into this position? This is not right."

Ms Osborne asked the council to make "interim payments" to the contractors to "keep them afloat", and requested a formal inquiry into the matter.

She added: "We need to have an inquiry. We need to know why the auditor's report sat around without being acted upon, among other things.

"Frankly, listening to Mr Wilkins, I would wonder why on Earth any business would want to contract with this authority.

"Somebody has died and lost their business as a result of this – so shouldn't we be holding somebody somewhere to account and looking at what has gone wrong?"

Ms Leyshon (who represents the adjoining Street division) responded: "The contractors are not contracted to this council – they are contracted to the Red Brick Building.

"This council is the accountable body – we sit between the government (the funder of the town deal) and each project. Each project has a grant funding agreement, with a Treasury-approved business case.

"We paused the payments backed in December 2023 because of our concerns about the financial management and governance on that project.

"I completely agree with you in your admiration for Mr Wilkins for coming here today. He understands, as do the other contractors who ring me at home, that his contract is not with this council.

"We have to go through the process we have to go through, and we are working with the government, SWAP and our external auditors to understand what exactly has happened in this project. It is taking a long time because it is very complex."

Mr Wilkins claimed on Tuesday (April 1), that the SWAP report would not be discussed publicly by the council's audit committee until May – something which the council has not confirmed.

A spokesman said: "The audit work is ongoing so we cannot confirm when it will be complete or published at this point."

The Somerset Coroners' Office has been approached by the Local Democracy Reporting Service over the opening of an inquest into Mrs Wilkins's death.