Croydon Council has pledged £6m for the refurbishment of East Croydon Station to make sure a bridge is included in the development plans.

It hoped the bridge will form part of a £20m Network Rail project to revamp the station giving it an additional entrance and allowing shoppers a short cut into the town centre and ease congestion at the station.

The bridge and refurbishment form part of the East Croydon Masterplan.

Engineers and architects have been appointed by Network Rail to work on the project and are making progress with its design.

Councillor Jason Perry, cabinet member for planning, said: “This is a truly exciting initiative that will be enormously valuable to everyone using East Croydon station and will help stimulate further development in the area.

“There’s been a great deal of co-operation through the masterplanning process and I am delighted that the council has been able to identify the capital funding that will ensure Network Rail’s much-needed investment can go ahead.”