Half of Preston Bus Station to remain closed until the New Year

The cordon in place at the Bus Station Pic: Adam Kean

Half of Preston Bus Station is to remain closed until early in 2016 due to storm damage.

A safety check was carried out by Lancashire County Council after eight large glass panes shattered on Sunday night.

The county council initially said the western half of the building would be closed until Sunday.

Part of Preston Bus Station’s eastern side has now also been closed following the high winds.

Stands 68-78 on the Ringway side have been shut off due to problems with the window frames identified by surveyors. Preston Bus have released a list of services affected.

The eastern side is due to reopen on Tuesday (8 December) provided the repairs are completed.

Phil Barrett, director of community services at the county council, said: “We’re sorry for the further inconvenience to passengers and operators as a result of the need to temporarily close further stands, but safety must be our top priority.

“Following the damage caused by the very high winds last weekend we have carried out a detailed survey and found that some work is needed to replace parts of the windows on the eastern side of the station.

“The western side, where panes were blown out, will need more extensive work and this side of the station will remain closed into the New Year.

“We’re hoping to be able to carry out work to get the eastern side of the station fully open again on Tuesday morning.

“I’d like to thank the bus station users for their cooperation, and bus operators and our station staff for responding so well to the challenges of the last few days to keep services running.”

The Bus Station can only be accessed from the city centre through the subways and only half the amount of stands are now in use for buses.