Stoke digs into bus station work
The first phase of work has begun for a new bus station to form part of a £350m project in Stoke-on-Trent.
Excavation work has started with "enough earth to cover a football pitch" being dug out at John Street.
The ten-week digging work marks the first steps of the first phase of the £350m new shopping and leisure complex in the city.
Up to eight-metre deep foundations are being dug up to help support the foundations of the new site.
Mark Thomas, regional director of site contractor VINCI Construction UK and covering the north's building division, said: "The ground breaking ceremony (held yesterday) is an exciting event for Stoke-on-Trent and VINCI Construction UK.
"It represents the start of a challenging and significant redevelopment of the new city centre bus facility and will open the gates to the £350m redevelopment of a new shopping and leisure complex."
Once the foundations are complete, work is set to start in the spring on creating a bus drivers' accommodation building before construction starts on building the station's main bus concourse.
