THE wife of a former Minehead health and safety consultant took her own life partly due to stress he was experiencing with a regeneration project in Glastonbury, he claimed.

Jon Wilkins, who runs the Wilkins Safety Group health and safety consultancy based near Langport, has been working with Somerset Council and the Red Brick Building Centre Ltd for the past two years.

Regenerating the Red Brick Building was part of a £23.6 million Glastonbury town deal, but it ran into problems over the past year, with reports of contractors not being paid and the council pausing work while an external audit was carried out.

Mr Wilkins attended a council meeting on Wednesday (March 26) and in a tearful address said he was one of those still awaiting payment for his work, and his health had deteriorated as a result.

He revealed his wife of 35 years, Angela, had taken her own life last Friday, and he did not have the money to pay for her funeral.

Mr Wilkins, accompanied by his daughter Ruth Orr, said he was a full-time carer for his wife until her death.

He told the council: “I was appointed in 2023 to be the principal designer at the Red Brick Building project, and we also carried out an asbestos survey.

“We were told this was being financed by a Government grant, being administered by the council.

“Things were going great until April last year when we had no payment.

“Here we are, 12 months later and we have not had a penny.

“We have had emails from the Red Brick Building apologising for the delays, blaming the council and assuring we would be paid.”

Mr Wilkins said he was owed £23,746 for work on the project, which had an original budget of more than £3 million.

He said he was recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia and was on anti-depressants as a result of stress caused by the project.

Mr Wilkins said: “My wife became very upset seeing me struggle with this whole Red Brick fiasco.

“Last Friday, she took her own life.

“Thank you, Somerset Council and Red Brick, not only have you not paid me, you have stolen my wife.

“We were married 35 years and you have robbed me of her.

“It will cost between £8,000 and £10,000 to have a funeral, I have not got that because you have still got it.”

Mr Wilkins said the audit was now complete and the authority should take decisive action to prevent any further impact on local businesses.

He said: “We need paying.

“One of the builders is virtually suicidal because he is owed nearly £300,000.”

Council deputy leader Cllr Liz Leyshon assured him issues surrounding the project would be sorted ‘as soon as humanly possible’.

Cllr Leyshon said: “I offer you and your family my sincere condolences.

“I do realise from conversations with you and other contractors the impact this has had on your businesses and personal lives, and we thank you for coming to explain this to us.”