Anger over city bus shelter 'not fit for purpose'

But Labour has accused them of hypocrisy, claiming the design at Hall Ings, part of the 24.4m City Park project in the city centre, was approved and put through by the Tories.

Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, leader of the Conservative Group on Bradford Council, said: "In light of the improvement works taking place in Hall Ings, coupled with the development of the City Park, I can understand why there was a need for the bus shelter to be something out of the ordinary, more of a landmark.

"However, they have missed the point as I feel that the revisions to the design to stay within budget make it simply not fit for purpose. There is no protection whatsoever from wind and the roof structure is so high up that anyone under the shelter will not have any real protection from any rain or snow which is accompanied by wind, quite a frequent occurrence in our winters.

"The expense of the length of the structure which extends way past the end of the last bus shelter, presumably in the interests of what they call visual amenity, would have been far better spent providing some vandal resistant, transparent screens to keep out the weather.

"A part of the structure which served a purpose has been sacrificed to reduce costs whilst another part of the structure which appears to serve little if any purpose has been retained."

Councillor Chris Greaves, of West Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority, added: "It looks to me as though this was designed and approved by people who never actually have to wait for a bus. This is a classic case of style over substance, though even the so called style is questionable."

But Labour Councillor David Green, Bradford Council's executive member for regeneration and the economy, said: "There have been no alterations approved by the Labour administration in Bradford since we took leadership of the council in May. Therefore, the bus canopy, as it stands, is the one that was approved by the Conservative administration that ran City Hall for 10 years and approved all the City Park design and ancillary works – despite the fact that I personally raised concerns about the bus stop facilities, not just this one but others.

"I think it's the height of hypocrisy and cheap politics for them to try and shift the blame for their mistake when they had the opportunity to put it right years ago."