Rivals clash as delays threaten station upgrade

Fears growing that £3.65m project will be axed and cash given back to Government

- Phil Corrigan

CONSERVATIVE and Labour politicians are blaming each other over delays threatening a railway station upgrade.

Kidsgrove Station was allocated £3.65 million of Town Deal funding for work including a new transport interchange and a 200-space car park.

But concerns over subsidence, linked to decades of coal mining, are holding up the scheme, with the projected cost rising to £5.5 million. There are growing fears the plans may be scrapped and the Town Deal money returned to the Government.

Simon Tagg, right, the Conservative leader of Newcastle Borough Council, says Labour MP David Williams, below, is not doing enough to ensure Government support for the project. But Mr Williams accuses the borough council of failing to factor in the cost of ground remediation work with its original station project budget.