POWER company EDF Energy has struck a deal with West Somerset Council to safeguard around a dozen jobs which could have been axed due to ongoing delays with the Hinkley Point C project.

But the district council will still face an unexpected bill of almost £115,000 over the next two years for picking up the wage bill of a number of what should have been EDF-funded posts.

Adrian Dyer, the council's interim executive director, revealed there had been the very real prospect of "significant redundancies" at the authority due to hold-ups in the Hinkley C scheme.

But he said he could now see light at the end of the tunnel and he was hopeful the project would begin in earnest before the end of next year.

Speaking at last Monday's scrutiny committee meeting, he said numerous staff had been taken on by the council to help the authority cope with the impact of EDF's plans for a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point.

The temporary, two-year posts were paid for by EDF as part of a package of measures tied to the preliminary works on-site.

But as the Government dragged its heels on guaranteeing a price for electricity generated from the proposed new plant, so work on-site ground to a halt.

That put the project behind schedule and left council chiefs facing the dilemma of paying for staff whose contracts were due to expire before the work at Hinkley they had been paid to oversee had been completed.

"It is fair to say that at the beginning of October I had already had discussions on an informal basis with cabinet surrounding the possibility of a significant number of compulsory redundancies because I could not see any light at the end of the tunnel .

"What was the point of employing a team when the next phase of the Hinkley project was unlikely?" Mr Dyer said.

But the Government did eventually agree a price guarantee, or strike price, for electricity at the end of October.

"The announcement of a strike price did somewhat change the view and I had several meeting with EDF which led to an agreement to allow the funding of the team to continue for as long as possible.

"EDF has a high regard for the team we have in place and they were keen to do all they could to retain them," Mr Dyer said.

The council employed an environmental health officer, planning officers, a major projects team, finance, tourism and housing staff with the EDF money.

All but two were paid for by cash triggered by the start of the preliminary work on-site at Hinkley and the new deal between the council and EDF will guarantee the continuation of their contracts until the end of December next year.

Mr Dyer said that despite the hold-ups the team had been doing a lot of work in preparation for when the Hinkley C development finally got underway.

"I do think this is a good news story as it keeps the council in a position to be able to continue delivering its priorities and a lot of that is down to the pragmatism of EDF in its approach to the situation.

"It allows this council to retain a core of what is an excellent team.

"When EDF starts its remobilisation we will have to take a reassessment of our capacity as a whole because at the moment we cannot gauge the impact it's going to have on the authority.

"We simply cannot envisage what that's going to look like until we have the full impact of a £14 billion project being delivered in West Somerset," Mr Dyer said.

Andrew Goodchild, the council's planning manager, said news that the European Commission would be investigating the Government's price guarantee for electricity from Hinkley had come as no surprise and he fully expected a positive outcome by the summer.

The European Commission announced last week that it would be looking more closely at the Government's deal - known as the contract for difference - to see whether it amounted to state aid for nuclear power, something that was illegal under EU rules.

Mr Goodchild said: "The issue of state aid is not a new one. I am confident things will have progressed to a decision by the EU by the summer of next year.

"It is a reasonable prospect, in my view, that we will see work start in the autumn of next year."

In a statement, EDF said the commission's plans for an investigation showed the EU's inquiry into Hinkley C was "proceeding as expected in time for a decision in the summer of 2014"

The company said: "As part of a far-reaching reform of the UK energy market, it is right that the European Commission should examine the contract and highlight potential challenges.

"The Contract for Difference for Hinkley Point C will be the first example of a new kind of agreement to unlock the investment needed for low carbon energy at the best possible price for consumers.

"This investigation gives the Government and others the opportunity to show that electricity market reform in the UK is essential to deliver the investment needed for the country's low carbon energy future at a price that is fair for customers.

"Without this reform, the investment will not take place.

"The Hinkley Point C agreement is proof that this reform works to attract the investment needed to secure Britain's future electricity supply."

The company said it was looking forward to working with the commission during the investigation.

"EDF Energy said in October that the agreement for Hinkley Point C would need state aid approval before a final investment decision can be taken," the statement said.