An administrative change of mind means the headline cost of the Kingskerswell bypass has risen and could now top £164 million according to a report prepared for Devon County Council.

But council officials denied any real change in the cost, merely a demand from government to calculate additional 'risk'.

The final draft of an economic survey presented to the authority last month gave the total cost of the preferred road scheme as £164,391,300.

Construction alone is set to cost more than £132 million, buying the necessary land a further £22 million, preparation and supervision of the project £9 million plus.

The previous headline figure to be widely touted was £130 million.

Transport campaigner and former Kingskerswell councillor John Hartley, who has called for alternatives to the bypass, has demanded a public exhibition and wider distribution of the report.

'Why have Devon County Council not told the public about this report?' he asked.

A council spokesman said the revised figure was purely a result of the way costs were now calculated.

'There has been no change to the estimate figure of £120.86m which includes inflation and quantified risk,' he said.

'However, the Department for Transport has asked that we now calculate the additional risk layer at 44 per cent rather than 15 per cent which changes the economic analysis but not the basic estimate.'