Shoppers still waiting for bus shelter

NEARLY a year after shoppers in Lowestoft were promised a bus shelter at the Tesco superstore in Gunton, they are still waiting for buses at a temporary stop on the main road.

Suffolk County Council is poised to install a shelter on the main road using part of the Tesco car park, in an agreement with the supermarket - but the plan has been delayed.

A spokesman said: 'We have to revise the original road layout drawings and this is currently being done. Once this work is complete we will share the plans with Tesco.'

When the Tesco was originally built in Leisure Way, space was made for buses to stop in the car park.

But when the layout changed, First Eastern Counties refused to let buses pull in because of safety fears and a temporary bus stop was created on Leisure Way, between the two roundabouts, without a shelter.

So in January 2009, Tesco and Suffolk County Council said they would work together to turn the temporary stop on Leisure Way into a shelter with a bus layby.

But the work has yet to take place and campaigners have said that as Anglian Bus are also poised to stop using the original bus area, the shelter is needed more than ever.

Rod Lock, secretary of the East Suffolk Travellers' Association (ESTA), said they had been campaigning for the shelter for nearly three years.

'If it is raining or snowing there is no cover for people,' said Mr Lock.

'I'm fairly confident now that it will go in - but at what time? I know it's only April but it has moved slowly so far and come winter we could still be waiting for it to happen.'

Nick Gellatly, for Tesco, said they considered building a shelter on the access road to the store but said moving underground fuel pipes was too expensive.

He said: 'We would be very happy to look at installing a bus shelter up on the main road. In many respects we share the concerns of the passengers group and really the easy solution is for First buses to use the facility that is there.'