The Supreme Constitutional Court on Tuesday backed a previous court decision that threw out mass appeals by affected property owners along the planned route of the Paphos-Polis road after the expropriation of real estate was revoked.

In 2012, the administrative court dismissed multiple appeals against the partial revocation of expropriations.

The ruling was welcomed on Wednesday by Paphos mayor Yiotis Papachristofi, who said that by the end of September a decision should be taken on whether works on the road will resume.

The planned road has only been 30 per cent completed, and was put on hold earlier this year.

Papachristofi added that where compensation from expropriations was low, owners could now demand higher sums of money.

The mayor said it was “a very important project” and hoped it would be resumed soon.