RESIDENTS of a village have criticised Durham County Council after delays to improvement works left them without a bus shelter.

Etherley Parish Council must wait longer than anticipated after work at Toft Hill stopped.

The developments at Toft Hill were funded by the Urban Regeneration Renewal Initiative (Urri) and included improvements to a stretch of footpath, installation of bollards and replacement of a bus shelter with a glazed shelter.

Work began in September, but stopped with only the footpath improvements made.

Etherley Parish Council received an apology from Durham County Council regarding the bollards and bus shelter, which have not yet been delivered.

Parish council clerk Alison Overfield, said: "We were asked by the county council if work could begin in September as they had a slot in their works programme, little realising that most of the materials were not available. Not only do the residents of the village have to suffer the inconvenience of not having a bus shelter for several weeks, but we have the added problem of residents parking on the newly widened footpath, creating a hazard for pedestrians."

Parish council chairman Paul Ryman said: "The intention of this work was to provide a better bus shelter for residents and to make the area safe for pedestrians.

Instead, the opposite has been achieved.

"We must now wait until materials are available to complete the work, and I assume more inconvenience to motorists with traffic control lights installed again so that work can commence."

Assurances have been given that all work will be completed by the end of this month.

Paul Anderson, the county council's Urban and Rural Renaissance project manager, said: "The county council consulted the parish council about the type of new bus shelter they wished to see installed.

"Once the parish council had decided on the type, the order was placed and we expect it to be installed on November 28.

"To prevent vehicles parking on the newly widened footpath, bollards are to be installed and this work will be carried out this week. Although not part of the original scheme, the county council is also to reinstate, free of charge, the wall following the removal of the old bus shelter."