BUILDING work on a controversial bus and train station in the heart of Clitheroe is set to start within weeks.

The scheme to build a public transport interchange in the town centre has already come under fire from the area's civic society.

The project will cost around £336,000 and if all goes to plan will be completed early in the new year.

Council chiefs and transport executives see the plan as crucial for the Ribble's Valley public transport network.

They are also claiming it will help improve the environment in Lancashire and are determined to press ahead with the project.

Building work will get under way in June when the project will be officially launched by civic dignitaries from County Hall and Ribble Valley Council.

The aim is to link up public transport across the Ribble Valley and there will be a staffed control centre at the interchange.

Members of the public will be able to get information and advice on the best routes and services to use. There will also be a special ticketing scheme which will cover all the operators using the interchange. Lancashire County Council, Ribble Valley Council, the Rural Development Commission, Railtrack and North Western Trains have joined forces to draw up the project, which was awarded more than £200,000 just before Christmas by the Government.

But Clitheroe's civic society has written to the council to object to the proposal.

The letter reads: "Until it is known which of the bus services will use the station and how often, it will be impossible to assess the impact on traffic flows and congestion.

"We have long believed and supported the view that the bus and train services should be integrated, but equally believe that it is not necessary to provide a bus station in order to do this.

"There are already many bus services which pass the railway station and drop and take on passengers, but the timetables are not co-ordinated.

"The bus and rail operators seem unwilling to get together. We believe is is naive to think that, as if by magic, the provision of a very costly bus station will bring this about."

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