A total of £4.5m earmarked for a revamp of Redcar’s central railway station will be spent elsewhere after a recent announcement of Government levelling up partnership money.

The growth funding secured from the Tees Valley Combined Authority is being substituted out of the project, although it is unclear what it could yet be spent on.

The Government recently awarded £20m to Redcar and Cleveland Council as a result of a successful levelling up partnerships bid, which aims to target areas most in need of interventions based on indicators such as educational attainment, gross pay and life expectancy.

This includes £7m for the run down station.

A meeting of the council’s growth scrutiny committee heard that there would be a “funding swap” with the earmarked money spent on another project.

Loftus councillor Wayne Davies had asked how much was available and what the plans were for the existing cash.

After an officer explained to Cllr Davies the £4.5m sum involved, Adam Carter, the council’s assistant director of growth and enterprise said no decision had been made by the council on what it would be allocated towards.

Mr Carter said it was “ringfenced” for specific uses, which limited how it could be spent, while acknowledging that this would “get your [Cllr Davies’] goat”, the councillor having expressed frustration at how some external funds could not be spent on the council’s priorities.

Work on the station site could begin in mid-spring, although a previously suggested timescale of completion by the end of 2024 appears unlikely to be met.

In 2022 the council secured a long-term lease agreement on the station after lengthy negotiations with the Arch Company which has control of commercial property assets previously belonging to Network Rail.

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It wants to bring a derelict building forming part of the station footprint back into use and provide new retail and leisure space with a view to providing a “fabulous gateway” into the town.

A design team has been appointed and images were subsequently published showing how the revamp could look.

A previous report for the council’s cabinet said the regeneration scheme would see the Grade two listed railway station building “restored to its former glory” through comprehensive conservation works.

This would transform it from an “empty and run-down shell” into a vibrant mixed-use gateway to the town that functions as a leisure/retail hub, as well as providing rail facilities such as ticket machines, travel information and covered waiting areas.

Coatham ward councillor Carl Quartermain previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that he envisaged the station along the lines of Richmond Station, in North Yorkshire, which is now home to artisan food sellers, a restaurant/bar, cinema and art gallery.

He said he had instigated discussions with council chiefs over the station in 2015 and described it as an eyesore.

The original station opened in 1846 and was renamed Redcar Central in 1950.

It is served by Northern Rail and TransPennine Express trains.