ONE of North Yorkshire's biggest bus companies wants to up sticks and move to York by building a £1 million new station on the site of a former roadside caf.

Yorkshire Coastliner wants to quit its base in Malton and build a new operating centre, and park&ride station, at the former Hazelbush caf off the A64 at Stockton-on-the-Forest.

The company says its current Railway Street home is simply too small for its 63 staff, 21 buses and service expansion aspirations.

Next spring, the company will welcome seven new double-decker buses, at a cost of £1.25 million, and wants to run its services between York, Leeds and the east coast every 15 minutes.

The company is working with North Yorkshire County Council and City of York Council to ensure its bus station's new home will be the former caf, which it hopes will help ease congestion on the A64.

Yorkshire Coastliner also wants to build the UK's first "sub-regional" park&ride site - encouraging commuters travelling on lengthy journeys to leave their car at Stockton-on-the-Forest and take a bus to Leeds, Scarborough, Whitby or Bridlington.

If planners give the go ahead in the coming months, Coastliner bosses say they will be hoping for growth in the region of at least 545,000 passenger journeys a year. An extra 15 to 20 new bus drivers will also be employed.

The new station will provide parking for 22 buses, 177 public parking spaces (included 13 disabled bays) and cycle racks.

A separate company will also occupy an area in front of the new depot providing retail opportunities.

A design brief from the company says the station would also house a company information point and CCTV system.

Giles Fearnley, managing director of Blazefield Holdings, the parent company of Yorkshire Coastliner, said: "It is an exciting scheme. We have outgrown our existing space and have been putting together the planning proposals for about 12 months.

"We had been keeping an eye out for where we could go and the Hazelbush opportunity came along. We have been in discussions with City of York Council and, if all goes to plan, it will open in early 2007."

Len Cruddas, chief executive of York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said: "This is good news for business.

"It just reminds us how key it is to have quality development land available. We must not forget about existing businesses that want to grow. If we had lost them, it would have been a blow. We are in favour of business driving forward."

Updated: 10:34 Friday, December 09, 2005