Herefordshire is to spend an extra £150,000 on improving the county’s bus shelters.

The planned investment is intended to “improve the image of public transport in the county and attract residents to make greater use of sustainable modes of transport”, according to the council’s justification for its decision, signed off by corporate director for economy and environment Ross Cook.

A council survey in 2019 found “a significant number” of the county’s bus shelters needed repairing, upgrading or replacing, with their condition thought to have declined further since.

The sum is on top of £300,000 for bus shelters approved in the council’s current budget.

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A council report in August making the case for the spending said there were seven shelters in need of replacement but did not say where.

The replacements will “protect those waiting for their bus from the elements, withstand the extremes of weather and vandalism, and look like somewhere the passenger will feel safe whilst waiting”, it said.

Cycle parking would be included alongside them “where land is available”, it said, adding that the alternative would be to remove the potentially unsafe shelters altogether, which would hit passenger numbers.

An poll of nearly 700 Herefordshire residents last year found that two-thirds would be “a great deal” or “to some extent” more likely to use buses in the county if shelters and stops were improved.

The investment forms part of £3.7 million package of county transport improvements initially approved in August, which included £1 million for road improvements in Herefordshire’s market towns, and £550,000 for traffic calming in four villages.

A million pounds will also have to be spent on reducing the risk of a retaining wall on the B4224 near Fownhope, southeast of Hereford, from collapsing.