BUS passengers are in for a pleasant surprise when they arrive in Durham City on Monday morning.

For years, there have been complaints about the shabby and unwelcoming aspect of the city's 1970s-built bus station in North Road.

It has also been an unpleasant place to wait for a bus at night, often used by teenage tearaways to hang out.

But the station, which handles 85 buses an hour, has undergone a £500,000 transformation that could make taking the bus a far more pleasant experience.

Durham County Council bought the building from Arriva and secured funding from One NorthEast, the Local Transport Plan, Government and its own funds to give it a long-overdue makeover.

The scheme was originally to cost £250,000, but extra funding was found to extend the scope of the work.

The formerly open concourse has been enclosed with glazed panels, and automatic doors lead into the station and to the buses.

The grubby flooring has been replaced by white anti-slip tiles, there is more seating, cycle parking, brighter lighting, toilets and security cameras.

There will be real-time information on bus arrivals and departures. Passengers will be able to look at the electronic displays and see if the bus they are waiting for is on time or delayed.

The system, linked to satellite positioning technology, will apply to many services and will be extended as new buses are introduced.

The station will be manned from 5am to midnight by staff from parking control company NCP, adding to passengers' security.

Smokers will not be able to light up as before. The station is now fully enclosed and smoking is banned.

County council deputy leader Don Ross, who unveiled the new-look station yesterday with the city's MP, Roberta Blackman-Woods, said he decided things had to change when he went to the station to catch a bus home 18 months ago.

"I discovered the bus had left five minutes before and there was 55 minutes until the next one.

"I thought that instead of waiting in this dismal, unkempt, dirty and depressing place, I would walk the three miles home. Since then I have been pressing for something to be done.''

He added: "What a transformation. I can't believe what I'm seeing.''

Mrs Blackman-Woods said: "What was here didn't really reflect Durham in the best light - and we often welcome people into the city through these doors.

"It is an excellent facility, so much better than what we had before and it should really improve the first experience people have of the city.''

Council deputy chief executive (environment) Chris Tunstall said Durham was "struggling to hold its own'' in terms of bus passenger numbers, despite a reported overall national increase in journeys, but the new-look facility should help make bus travel more attractive.

"We are putting more into maintaining it than the previous operator did. We are at least doubling what was spent to keep it at a standard that people expect .''

Arriva commercial director Liz Esnouf said the council had been able to access funding that the company could not and that Arriva would be running 27 new vehicles and refurbishing its fleet.