AFTER a 16-month battle, travellers were told today that they would get a new bus shelter in Felixstowe town centre to replace one demolished in a crash.

AFTER a 16-month battle, travellers were told today that they would get a new bus shelter in Felixstowe town centre to replace one demolished in a crash.

Bus travellers have been campaigning since January last year for a new shelter outside the cinema in Hamilton Road - forced to stand in the wind and rain to wait for their transport.

The metal shelter was wrecked when a First Group bus struck it as schoolchildren waited at the stop.

The children were forced to flee as the bus careered into the shelter, shattering its glass panes and leaving it beyond repair.

Travellers expected a new shelter to be put up soon after the crash but nothing happened, and their hopes were raised again when a traffic scheme was carried out in the area, but still no shelter arrived.

Bryan Frost, Felixstowe Town Council transport representative and a member of the resort's branch of the East Suffolk Travellers' Association, said the delay was farcical and had degenerated into a "game of inter-council ping-pong" with no-one prepared to accept responsibility.

"While Suffolk Coastal and the county council have been passing the buck between themselves, bus passengers have been losing out," he said.

He understood shelter company Adshel had been willing to replace the shelter and Suffolk Coastal had agreed, but the county council had not provided a licence for the work to take place.

Town clerk Susan Robinson said further negotiations had now taken place and was very pleased to announce that a new shelter would be provided soon.

The highways department at Suffolk County Council would be providing it from the local transport action plan budget or from the money set aside for the safety scheme which had taken place alongside The Triangle.

The delay had partly been due to negotiations with the bus company over the lay-out to the bus layby.

No-one was injured in the bus crash which wrecked the shelter. The number 75 bus suffered some damage to its front top panels but was able to be driven later the same day. The owners launched a full investigation.

A number of new bus shelters are being put in place in Felixstowe and the Trimley villages thanks to fund provided by the county and parish councils.