Barnstaple bus station closure 'bonkers', says local MP

Barnstaple Bus Station, seen here in 2018, was closed to the public at the start of the Covid pandemic

Devon councillors are being urged to re-open facilities at a bus station which has been closed since the start of the Covid pandemic.

Area MP Selaine Saxby said constituents not being able to use the building in Barnstaple to take shelter, or use the facilities, "seems absolutely bonkers".

Site-owner North Devon Council blamed a shortage of funding for the closure.

It added it was talking to Barnstaple Town Council about transferring ownership to create a community hub.

Councillor Ian Roome, Liberal Democrat leader of North Devon Council, rejected the criticism, claiming Ms Saxby was electioneering.

He is due to stand against the Conservative MP in the next general election.

He said: "I think it's 100% to do with the election that she's trying to get involved in local politics."

Ms Saxby said she had been campaigning for the station, north Devon's biggest transport hub, to be re-opened since last winter, when the issue was first bought to her attention.

The station, including its toilets, was closed more than three years ago because of fears over anti-social behaviour.

Passengers said travelling had been made harder since.

One pensioner, waiting for a bus at the station, told the BBC it was time someone sorted the situation out because "it's pretty annoying, to put it mildly".

A spokesperson from bus operator Stagecoach said: "We would welcome the facilities being reopened at Barnstaple Bus Station, which is managed by North Devon District Council."