APPROVAL is likely to be granted for plans to redevelop a run-down bus station as the first step in a town's regeneration.

Stanley's 30-year-old bus station, on the A693 town centre bypass, is considered unsightly and has been regularly targeted by vandals.

Planners describe it as "giving an unattractive first impression" for visitors arriving in the north-west Durham town.

Preliminary plans for a replacement station would see it sited on the nearby Mary Street car park, leaving more than three acres of land available for redevelopment for retail or leisure use, with some on-site parking provision.

A sculpture and facilities for cyclists and pedestrians are also among proposals put forward by site owners Derwentside District Council.

The district and county councils are both members of the Stanley Town Centre Regeneration Partnership, which oversees improvements in the area.

Members of the district council's development control committee are to be asked to approve the proposals put forward for the site at their meeting on Thursday.

Should the committee agree to adopt the recommendation, a consultation exercise would follow allowing residents, businesses and other organisations to comment.

The brief would also be passed on for potential developers who would then use it as a basis for their plans for the site.