THE City Council needs to find another £41,000 to have enough in the kitty to start work on a new bus station for Lancaster.

Special meetings have been organised to identify cost savings and find the extra funds needed for the project.

Councillors have also been at pains to apologise to the bus travelling public who have spoken out against the temporary stops.

Another meeting will take place tomorrow, June 9, to decide how best to raise the cash needed to get the scheme going as soon as possible.

Green councillor, Jon Barry, said: "We've identified savings such as heaters in store rooms that are unnecessary and special lighting which we don't really need. It's cut quite a lot off the estimate but we still need to find more money. I've looked at the plans and I think the new bus station will serve the city well."

Independents on the council were concerned that the new station was not the best way forward for the city and wanted to examine alternative including revamping the existing 1930s station or revising the existing plans. MBI leader Tricia Heath said: "We're concerned that this new station has been designed and will be built to meet the needs of Stagecoach, who haven't offered a penny towards it, rather than local bus users. We're worried about going into a lot of debt and it not being the best for the city - it looks to me like a glass wind tunnel and will be very prone to vandalism.

"Stagecoach have just sold off their old depot and offices. They are set to profit from this but are not prepared to give anything back. We just think that there could be better ways of spending this money and best serving local bus users."