Shipping containers become temporary bus shelters

Three shipping containers will be used as temporary bus shelters in Plymouth.

Plymouth City Council said 12 bus shelters had been removed and would be replaced by 15 larger units as part of improvements in and around Royal Parade.

However, delays in contract negotiations meant the old shelters between Courtenay Street and St Andrews Cross had not been replaced.

The shipping containers will be placed outside Dingles, Debenhams and Poundland and work is expected to start in the spring.

Councillor Mark Coker, cabinet member for strategic planning and transport, said he had asked officers to leave "no stone unturned" in a bid to find temporary shelters.

"As a bus user myself, I was really unhappy with the shelters being removed in winter but as cabinet member for transport, understood that we were left with very little option as the contract had ended with the old providers and we were simply not in a position to start the new improvement scheme," he said.

"This solution is a little unusual but it is practical and can be in place relatively quickly."

Follow BBC Devon on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].