Stocks of slate are drying up, causing long delays for building firms and do-it-yourself renovators.

Building firms have to wait months to get supplies. The manager of one firm said: "We've had to wait two months to get slate. We have never had to wait this long.'' Quarrying was hit hard by wet weather and Hurricane Gert which stopped work, but there is also a shortage of sites for new digs.

And the problem could get worse with major supplier Cumberbatch Quarry admitting its Dunscombe Road site in Warwick is nearing exhaustion after ten years digging.

Owner Jonathan Cumberbatch said: "It's time to move out. We need somewhere else.

"There's a building site there so we've been levelling the site, but we have reached the required level in most areas. We've got about two months left there.'' He said he knew of one firm which had just moved into a site. But after cutting through poor quality rock, it found little marketable slate and was now having to move again.

It also takes time to get slate on the market when companies start on a new site, he added.

"When they built the National Stadium I tried to suggest that instead of bulldozing the site we could have levelled everything out,'' he said. "The place has wonderful stone. Instead of paying a firm to do it we would have paid them. But in the long run Bermudian stone and slate is going to run short.'' However, Mr. Cumberbatch denied prices were affected by the shortage.

He said: "We keep prices the same -- people just have to wait and when your name comes up you get it. As long as you don't take your roof off, and then turn up wanting slate that day you should be all right.'' One recent victim of the dearth of slate is Capt. Wayne Smith, the Governor's aide-de-camp who recently renovated his roof.

He explained: "It took us two to three weeks to get our slate and during that time part of our roof was exposed in the hurricane.

"There was also a very heavy downpour just before the hurricane which destroyed our ceiling fan and very nearly destroyed our roof.''