The workforce on Tottenham Hotspur’s £850m stadium has been reduced and work has slowed following the announcement of the project’s delay, according to insiders on the job.

Last month the club announced that completion of the new ground would be delayed until at least late October due to issues with critical safety systems.

Speaking exclusively to CN on the condition of anonymity, sources on the scheme have now suggested the stadium will not be ready until the first week of January.

The insiders claimed they would not be surprised if the club “wrote off the season”, playing the remainder of the team’s 2018/19 fixtures at other venues in anticipation of a summer completion date.

The site was visited two weeks ago by Tottenham Hotspur chief executive Daniel Levy and owner Joe Lewis, who flew in from the Bahamas, CN has learned.

Although subcontractor staff numbers have fallen on the site since the delay was announced, sources have told CN that construction manager Mace and project managers employed directly by the club have since increased their presence on site.

“The numbers have been cut significantly,” a source on the scheme told CN.

“Lots of the companies on there have sent their people to other projects. But the job is coming along at a good pace now.”

“It’s gone from about fourth gear down to about second gear, now it’s just idling. But it’s ticking along.

“The pace has come down, but the right areas are being focused on to get it finished.”

The insider claimed there had been a shift in emphasis, with greater attention to detail since the delay was confirmed.

“There was a lot of corner-cutting [before the delay], but it’s definitely gone the opposite way now,” they told CN.

“It will take a bit more time, but I think Tottenham realise that, and they’ll get a better product at the end of it instead of something that’s just rushed.”

A Tottenham Hotspur FC spokesman said: “We have always said that we would issue updates for test events and official opening as soon as we have confidence in our project managers’ and contractors’ ability to deliver against the revised scheduled of works.

“This remains the case and speculating on unsupported dates such as this is irresponsible.”

A Mace spokesperson said: “The new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is one of the UK’s most complex and innovative projects.

“The club and the construction team are working diligently to complete the iconic stadium as soon as possible.

“Although these delays are obviously frustrating, once complete the new stadium is going to leave a fantastic, lasting legacy and will be a project everyone involved will be proud to be associated with.

“As you would expect, the number of operatives on site has reduced as sections of the stadium have begun to complete, in line with our programme.”

Following the announcement in August of the stadium’s delay until at least late October, Tottenham Hotspur said it was “hugely frustrated” at the safety systems failures behind the move.

Spurs said at the time that it had entered urgent meetings with Mace and its subcontractors, following which it received a report from Mace highlighting the extent of the issues with the project’s safety systems.