A £500,000 facelift that transformed a train station was unveiled yesterday.

Stockton South MP Dari Taylor declared Thornaby's revamped station open, saying she felt uncomfortable in the badly lit building before the improvements were carried out.

She said yesterday: "I used to use this station all the time, but I often feared for my safety. When I arrived here at night it was pitch black and I would be mightily relieved to see one or two taxis wait-ing.

"But the difference is immense now this work has been completed."

The station, transformed following a joint investment by Stockton Borough Council, Arriva Trains and the Strategic Rail Authority, has a new waiting room, shop, manned ticket office and a park and ride car park.

It also has much better lighting and a security camera system monitoring the platform, plus five real-time display screens providing up-to-the-minute information on train services