PLANS to invest £100,000 in security measures at bus shelters in villages near Darlington have been welcomed.

The borough council has secured the money through the Government's Rural Bus Challenge to install closed-circuit television cameras, lighting and timetable boards at 20 rural bus shelters.

Middleton St George, Sadberge, Bishopton and High Coniscliffe will be among the first villages to benefit.

Council transport policy officer Clive Hopkinson said: "The funding has been issued to local authorities to provide bus services or innovations for people who use the bus.

"Work is due to start imminently and we hope it will be completed in the next few months.

"There are a number of benefits to the scheme, including better security, a reduction in vandalism and improvement of information."

Doris Jones, chairman of Middleton St George parish council, said she was delighted at the planned improvements for the Dinsdale Station bus shelter.

"We call the bus shelters in Middleton St George youth clubs, because a lot of youths hang around in them," she said.

"All sorts of activities go on in there which make it unusable for people wanting to travel by bus.

"I am pleased that lighting and cameras will be installed to protect passengers."