THE future of a historic station building took a new twist yesterday as fears were raised that it could be turned into a live music venue.

Proposals to transform the former railway station in Richmond into a leisure complex were unveiled earlier this year by a mystery company, set up to buy and develop the site.

Its blueprint for the 19th Century building revealed plans for a live entertainment venue, educational and corporate facilities, a restaurant and cafe, bars and a shop selling railway memorabilia.

However, the newly-formed Richmond Station Group believes those proposals are simply a smoke screen for turning the site into a nightclub.

The organisation, made up of local residents, says it has spoken with professional musicians and specialist developers who said no leading musical groups would come to such a small venue.

A spokesman for the group said: "The venue is too small - the town and surrounding area does not have a large enough population of the right age group to support this."

He added: "We are talking about a beautiful area - much loved by families be they local or tourist - which is a conservation area, with the station buildings themselves being Grade II listed.

"A nightclub here will drive people away from the town. If Richmondshire District Council believes a nightclub is needed, there are several areas where a developer would agree to build a specialist venue. To use the station as a nightclub would be a disaster."

The district council has set a deadline of September 24 for expressions of interest in developing the site to be submitted.

A short-list of acceptable bids would then be put together and those applicants asked to make a presentation to the council.

A spokeswoman said: "This is a little premature because at the moment the council has not considered any bids in detail."

The site has been earmarked for leisure use in the authority's local plan.

The opposition group also believes that transporting visitors to the complex by bus from Catterick, Richmond market place and the Nuns Close car park would not be practical.