WORK got under way today on a £160,000 scheme to upgrade Selby bus station.

District council chiefs say the project will provide first class facilities for passengers into the new millennium.

The improvements in Park Street include five new bus shelters with integral seating, improved lighting and attractively paved areas.

Other features include new timetable holders, litter bins, a giant clock and landscaping.

The work is being funded with £120,000 from the district council and £40,000 from the Government's single regeneration budget.

The scheme was drawn up by the council's architects' department following discussions with bus operators and the highway authority.

Council architect Peter Preston said the work, due for completion by the end of next month, was the final piece in the town's waterfront regeneration jigsaw.

Councillor David Carmouche, chairman of the council's waterfront working group, said this part of the town had become neglected because of past uncertainty about the final location of the bus station.

He said: "It has led to some decline with road surfaces starting to break up and a general feeling of deterioration.

"The council is now addressing this problem by providing first class facilities for the travelling public into the new millennium."

The scheme would complement the county council resurfacing and footway works being carried out in adjoining Station Road.

Contractors started work last week in Station Road where the carriageway is to be resurfaced and a new footpath built from Ousegate to Park Street.

That work is costing £80,000, funded by the county council, district council and single regeneration budget money.

Coun Carmouche said: "Inevitably there will be disturbance; it's impossible to carry out a scheme of this type without some temporary inconvenience.

"I would ask all those affected to bear with us, while the contractors maintain basic facilities during the alteration period.

"Whatever difficulties we encounter will be more than made up for by the final enhancement of this area."

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