Demolishing Bracknell Bus Station 'would be a crime', cafe manager says

Demolishing a bus station in favour of a market square would be a "crime", volunteer staff at a cafe have said.

Chris Griggs, 61, has been the manager of Bracknell Bus Station Cafeteria in Berkshire - where all the staff are volunteers - for four years.

She said the facility was used by low income families and disabled people who were unable to walk to the town centre.

Bracknell Forest Council said the development was part of the next phase of the town's remodelling.

The authority has been approached for further comment.

Its plans involve buses stopping on a looping route around the edge of the square instead of at the bus station.

Planners said this would make the town centre "more accessible" and "potentially be safer" by stopping people from crossing the bus station on foot.

But Linda McIver, 37, said: "It makes me not want to bring my partner. He's a double-amputee, no legs, so he can't walk.

"I'm my partner's carer. When I heard about this bus station being moved I thought, 'no - they can't'."

Ms Griggs has run the cafe since 2020 but said it had been around for much longer.

"The guy before me had it for 25 years and there was a lady before him," she said.

"This is a cheap cafe, you get a lot of people on benefits in here, we get old people... and we know them."

She added: "You've got disabled people getting off the buses, the old people - they struggle to get into town from here, how are they going to feel if the bus station is further out? If they move it, it would be a crime in my eyes."

Andrew Hunter, the council's executive director of place, said the development was "an important next phase of the ongoing town centre regeneration".

"Significant opportunities will be created for café operators within the new Market Square, as well as many other job opportunities within the wider commercial space proposed," he added.

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