Demolishing Bracknell bus station ‘would be a crime’, says pub manager

Demolishing a bus station in favor of a market square would be a “crime”, say cafe volunteers.

Chris Griggs, 61, has been manager of the Bracknell Bus Station Cafeteria in Berkshire – where all staff are volunteers – for four years.

She said the facility was used by low-income families and people with disabilities who could not walk to the city center.

Bracknell Forest Council said the demolition was part of the next phase of the town’s regeneration.

The authority has been contacted for further comment.

The plans see buses stopping on a looping route along the edge of the square rather than at the bus station.

Planners said this would make the city center “more accessible” and “potentially safer” by preventing people from crossing the bus station on foot.

But Linda McIver, 37, said: “It makes me not want to take my partner. He is a double amputee, has no legs, so he can’t walk.

“I’m my partner’s carer. When I heard this bus station was being moved I thought ‘no, they can’t do that’.”

Ms Griggs has been running the cafe since 2020, but said it had been around for much longer.

“The guy before me had it for 25 years and there was a lady before him,” she said.

“This is a cheap café, you have a lot of people here on benefits, we have old people… and we know them.”

She added: “You have people with disabilities getting off the buses, the old people – they are struggling to get into the city from here, how will they feel if the bus station is further away? If they move it, it would be a crime in my eyes.”