19 December 2012Last updated at 15:11

In pictures: Preston bus station

Preston bus station - once the largest bus station in the world - is to be pulled down as part of a redevelopment plan for the city centre after council leaders said it was too expensive to refurbish.

Council leader Peter Rankin said costs for refurbishing the bus station range from £17m to £23.1m. Costs for building a new station on the site range from £10.8 to £15.3m.

Built in 1969, the building costs £297,000 to run annually and the repair bill would be £5.4m to install new lifts, ramps and concrete work.

Built in the "brutalist" style, the 43-year-old building has 80 bus bays and 1,100 car parking spaces.

The building is 171m (560ft) long and nine storeys high and is involved in 1,500 bus journeys a day.

The bus station is on a list of "treasured places at risk" compiled by the World Monument organisation.

During the Easter weekend, the building was used as the setting for the BBC's Preston Passion.

The bus station is made of re-enforced concrete using modular pre-fabricated construction. It has been described as "one of the most impressive civic buildings of its day" by English Heritage. However, it has also been called an "eyesore" by the former leader of the city council, Ken Hudson.

Lancashire

In pictures: Preston bus station

Share this page

Related Stories

Related Internet links

Services

About BBC News