A RECENTLY-opened branch line station has come in for criticism just days after scooping a national award.

Thornaby Station, which opened in January after a £500,000 revamp, was last week declared the winner of HSBC's Station Excellence of the Year Award - beating the likes of Manchester Piccadilly to an accolade that recognised Britain's most improved stations.

But one of the station's biggest selling points - a 60-space park-and-ride scheme into Stockton town centre - has left one passenger seriously disappointed.

Councillor Suzanne Fletcher, Liberal Democrat group leader on Stockton Borough Council, said the regular bus link, called the Stockton Shuttle, has left passengers confused and let down.

Instead of delivering rail travellers from Thornaby Station straight into the heart of its neighbouring town, passengers cannot even find where the buses leave from.

She claimed inadequate sign-posting and no bus time-table on the platform has undermined the station's award-winning reputation.

She said: "With all the money spent on this station, it is a great pity that an opportunity is lost to encourage a greater use of public transport. This station should be linking buses and trains in a way that people can really use.

"I think the council should look again at the bus route to take in a visit to the station itself. In the meantime, it would be so easy for a notice about the bus, explaining where the stop is, to be put up in the ticket office window.

"The people who gave this award out cannot have been and visited themselves."

The council yesterday admitted it was in such a hurry to get the bus service up and running that they have yet to install proper signs for passengers.

Rob Farnham, the council's transport planning team leader, said: "We received the money from the Government in early November last year and hurried to get the service running by January 6.

"We are now trying to get the remaining bits and pieces sorted, such as signs and maps. These are being designed as we speak and should be in place in the next fortnight."

The Stockton Shuttle is available for train passengers from the Thornaby side of the station's footbridge.