Rail passengers will soon be able to come in from the cold at Bingley station.

Renovation work carried out to a formerly-vandalised waiting room was ruined by continued water leaks which delayed its reopening for more than a year.

Bingley Civic Trust gave £600 towards a project to refurbish and reopen the boarded-up building on the Leeds-bound platform as part of a major scheme to give the station a facelift.

Other improvements were unveiled last year as part of celebrations for the 150th anniversary of Bingley's rail link with Shipley, Bradford and Leeds.

But unexpected leaks and damp ruined much of the repair work carried out on the waiting room and meant further repairs were needed.

Now the waiting room is at last due to reopen before the end of March. A Regional Railways spokesman confirmed that the waiting room itself had been repaired about six months ago but problems had been caused by water getting into the building.

Contractors are due to complete the latest round of repairs to the roof shortly.

"We will then redecorate, which will include new wallpaper and repainting and the waiting room should be open in the next four or five weeks," added the spokesman.

Members of the Aire Valley Rail Users' Group, which has been campaigning for the reopening of the waiting room, are pleased that passengers will finally be able to shelter from wind and rain.

"The waiting room should have opened more than 12 months ago but water has continued to find its way through the roof," said a spokesman for the group.

"We sincerely hope this will cure the problem once and for all."

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