Byline: By Chloe Griffiths

A CONTROVERSIAL bus interchange built despite the protests of villagers has been demolished after less than five years - because too few passengers were using it.

The Ryton Transport Interchange was officially opened in April 2002 at a cost of pounds 600,000 - despite a fierce battle by nearby residents.

But the transport hub - which was designed to improve public transport links throughout west Gateshead - was closed last October because it simply wasn't being used enough.

Demolishers moved in last Monday and the facility, which was built on a green area despite the anger of villagers, has now been destroyed.

Tyneside transport operators Nexus say landscaping over the next two weeks will return the site to its former glory, but they have been slammed by campaigners, who insist the project was always doomed.

The Barmoor Action Group fought the interchange for more than two years - raising a 1,400-name petition, lobbying Gateshead Council which owned the site and attempting to register the land so it could not be developed.

When all that failed, they took their fight to the Government - sending more than 850 letters, hiring a legal team and lobbying for a public inquiry. They also urged Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott to block the project.

Ryton councillor and former campaign co-ordinator Sally Danys said: "It has been a failure and a lot of money has been wasted. We felt very strongly that it was not going to work and we fought very hard to stop it and, unfortunately, what we said has now come to fruition. I just hope if anything can be learnt from this it is that local people should be listened to."

But a Nexus spokesman defended the project. He insisted the interchange, which was built next to the rugby ground, had been an "experiment", with many elements proving a success.

The interchange was the flagship of the Western Links project which was designed to improve rural transport and was part of a pounds 1.25m scheme funded by the Government's Rural Bus Challenge.

He said the interchange had only been built because they had received the Government grant and the decision had been taken to close it rather than waste money subsiding the facility.

He said: "The hub did not attract the number of passengers that we had hoped for. Demolishing the hub provided the best value for local tax payers, as it was a one-off payment, rather than continuing to subsidise the interchange."

Nexus have recouped about half the cost of building the interchange by recycling materials or by moving equipment to others areas of the network.

(01 Apr 2014, 8:02 pm)JakeSavage wrote Have to say the "ambitious" passenger projections for the metro extension to Sunderland will take some beating....