Cambridgeshire County Council is expecting it will see legal costs of over £1.6million as it faces prosecution after the deaths of three people on the guided busway.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) announced last year that it would be charging the authority under s3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, after an “extensive investigation”.

The county council said at the time that safety on the busway “remains a priority” for the authority, and that it extended its “sincerest condolences” to the friends and family of the people who died.

The HSE is the country’s national regulator for workplace health and safety, which works to prevent work-related death, injury and ill health.

The regulator said it would be bringing a prosecution against the county council after the deaths of three people in separate incidents on the guided busway, and following a collision involving a fourth person who suffered life-changing injuries.

Jennifer Taylor, 81, died when she was hit by a bus as she crossed the busway on foot at Fen Drayton on November 17, 2015.

Steve Moir, 50, a cyclist, died after colliding with a bus on the section of the busway between Cambridge Railway Station and Long Road on September 13, 2018.

Kathleen Pitts, 52, who was on foot, died after being hit by a bus on the section of the busway, also between Cambridge Railway Station and Long Road on October 26, 2021.

The fourth person, a teenage cyclist, was seriously injured when he collided with a bus in the guided section of the busway parallel to Kings Hedges Road on November 9, 2021.

A new report published by the county council said it is still waiting to hear more information from HSE on the nature of the prosecution.

The papers also revealed that to date the authority has incurred costs of £617,000 for legal advice relating to the expected prosecution.

It also said that it is estimated that an additional £1million could be spent on legal costs in the event of a trial.

Councillors will be asked next week at a highways and transport committee meeting (March 5) to delegate authority to officers to award contracts for the provision of continued legal advice.

At the end of last year the county council said it would be putting £920,000 towards building a new safety fence between the pathway and the guided bus lane on a southern section of the busway.