Simon Hart MP is urging RWE nPower to hold talks with local subcontractors left tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket after a payment dispute at the new power station.

Small county companies were unpaid by Italian company SOMI Impianti after a dispute between SOMI and Alstom – the main contractor on the RWE nPower project.

Now Mr Hart is trying to get RWE nPower involved in helping the Pembrokeshire firms get their money back and he raised the issue in the House of Commons last week with Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan.

"I am keen to urge RWE npower to host a meeting with the affected sub-contractors and for us to explore ways in which they could possibly help these companies' attempts to recover their money from Somi through the courts," said Mr Hart.

"The contractual dispute between Alstom and Somi resulted in Somi leaving the site and several sub-contractors being owed many thousands of pounds.

"There is no dispute that these companies have completed the work for which they had been contracted but the problem is that the contract is with Somi, and the main contractors and RWE npower are simply saying that it is not their problem and that the companies affected should pursue Somi in the usual way.

"However these are small companies who have neither the resources nor the time to pursue a large national company based in Italy over a prolonged period of time.

"RWE is a good company and a welcome addition to our area. What I hope they will recognise is that the Power Station would not have been built without Pembrokeshire companies who are now left high and dry. We all understand the legal position, but our request is that RWE accept a moral obligation too, and play their part in helping resolve the problem," he added.