BUS company Arriva has promised to clean up its rubbish-strewn bus station in Durham.

Durham City Council said it had received several complaints about the state of the facility in North Road since the weekend.

City council workmen used to have the contract to clean it but at the end of September, Arriva switched to another supplier.

Council cabinet member Carol Woods, who is also the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for the city, said she had asked Arriva to take immediate action to ensure the gateway to the city looked acceptable.

Councillor Woods said: "I have received numerous complaints about the amount of litter in the bus station in the last week.

"When I followed up these complaints I discovered that Arriva had cancelled their contract with the city council to clean the bus station.

"It is unacceptable that Arriva can allow it to become so dirty. I have written to them and demanded that they sort out this situation immediately.''

A spokeswoman for the firm said: "We did have another supplier lined up who was due to start on Monday, but they let us down at the last minute.

"We do have the new person due to start today and they will be there throughout the day rather than having two brief visits."