A BUS station has been deemed ‘one of the safest in Britain’ after becoming only the third in Lancashire to pick a quality award.

Burnley’s bus station has received the SafeMark award which assures passengers it is an area where they can feel safe.

The bus station was visited by ‘mystery shoppers’ and marked against a series of criteria, including health and safety, CCTV coverage, staff training and measures in place to tackle anti-social behaviour.

The judges looked at issues such as making sure there are no dark corners where people could lurk or the design and monitoring of toilets to tackle any illegal activities.

“It’s a bit like getting a Michelin star,” said David Woodroffe, group passenger facilities manager with bus operator Transdev Blazefield.

“It’s a big honour for the bus station and reflects all the hard work that’s gone into making it as safe as possible for everyone who uses it.”

Linzi O’Donnell, lead officer at the Lancashire Safer Travel Unit said: “Minimum requirements must be met in areas such as passenger security, ability to deal with incidents of crime and anti-social behaviour, maintenance of facilities and staff training.

“It is a preventative measure and aims to support staff and promote the feeling of safety and security for passengers and the general public.”

The bus station will be judged annually and will have to maintain its standards in order to retain the honour.

Nelson and Chorley bus stations are the other sites in Lancashire to have achieved the award.

The station’s architects, RoC Consulting have previously collected a Bus Industry award for the design of the interchange and its retail units.