A BUS company has been asked to modernise its services if it takes over a rival firm.

Darlington Borough councillors have asked Arriva North-East to run more services and upgrade buses if its planned takeover of Stagecoach is approved.

The operator has said it had planned to introduce several new measures.

Arriva North-East wants to take over Stagecoach's operations in Darlington, giving the firm a near-monopoly in the town.

The buy-out is subject to approval from the Office of Fair Trading.

As part of the proposed changes, Arriva will move out of its town centre depot in Feethams, which would free up the site for potential regeneration.

The borough council's cabinet gave its backing to the proposed takeover on Tuesday.

The council will also oversee the redevelopment of the Feethams site. Councillor Stephen Harker, who gave the report in the absence of transport portfolio holder Nick Wallis, asked for improvements to bus services, including a regular ten-minute service during the day to areas of the town, which generate a lot of traffic.

He also wanted new vehicles added to the fleet, CCTV cameras, internal stop display signs and a system to inform passengers how long the next bus would be.

Councillor Martin Swainston said: "Some of the buses look like they last saw service driving troops in the war.

"We are a poor cousin to Durham. We get the cast-offs."

Arriva has previously said the move would lead to cheaper fares, weekly, monthly and annual tickets would be accepted on all buses, and all local services would be included on electronic display boards.

Liz Esnouf, Arriva's commercial director, said yesterday: "We have had aspirations for a long time to work closer with the council.

"This could be a catalyst to an understanding between ourselves and the council."

She said Arriva planned to introduce colour-coded routes across the town, as well as investment in new vehicles and will be using a system to display how far away buses were.