Reading West railway station's £3.1m upgrade approved

The new design uses brick and glass as part of the construction

A £3.1m upgrade of a train station has been granted planning permission.

The plans for Reading West feature a new glass and brick building which includes a ticket office, public toilets and a small shop.

Secure ticket barriers, a new CCTV system and lighting are also expected be constructed at the Oxford Road site in a bid to improve security.

Reading Borough Council said the building work could begin in March and would take about a year to complete.

'Cinderella' station

Deputy leader Tony Page said the upgrade was "long overdue", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"The station is in a poor state of repair after decades of underinvestment, despite significant usage, with nearly 500,000 passenger journeys a year," he added.

"It's as busy as Tilehurst Station, but it remains very much the Cinderella station in the Reading area."

The original plan, submitted by Great Western Railway, was changed after some critics said the proposed station building looked like "a shipping container on the pavement".