PLANS for the £1m redevelopment of a rundown town centre bus station have been unveiled.

Derwentside District Council is consulting residents on a choice of four schemes for its proposed overhaul of the much-maligned bus depot in Stanley.

The first will see the station built just yards from the existing building, on Mary Street car park, with a new pedestrian link to nearby Front Street. Modelled on the Haymarket bus station in Newcastle, it could also include shops.

The second, controversial plan suggests lifting the ban on traffic in Front Street to admit buses only. The street has been a pedestrian zone since the 1970s and is home to a large weekly market.

But shopkeepers in the road are in favour of the scheme because they say it will bring more people past their doors.

Cheaper options are simply to install a line of bus stops and shelters along Front Street at the rear of the Asda store, or a similar scheme in Beamish Street, with a bus link opened to Scott Street.

The project will be financed by the sale of the existing station to a retail developer, with a further £300,000 earmarked from the Local Transport Plan.

Council bosses estimate the new station could be up and running within 18 months - as long it wins approval from Durham County Council's highways department, and the Government grants planning permission.

North Durham MP Kevan Jones, who has been campaigning to have the site cleaned up, welcomed the proposals.

"It is a good step forward. We have got movement finally and now we want to see action," he said, urging residents to have their say in the consultation process.

Leader of Derwentside District Council, Councillor Alex Watson, said: "That land is a saleable asset. It is in the commercial centre of Stanley and will realise a considerable sum of money.

"Several developers have already expressed an interest and we are a matter of weeks away from inviting tenders. The site will be a big contributing factor in the regeneration of Stanley.