Rail bosses were steaming today after a £1.45 million platform refurbishment scheme at York Station hit the buffers.

Railtrack said it was "very disappointed" with City of York Council planners, who last night halted the brick resurfacing work after dubbing it second-class.

A spokesman warned that the delay could disrupt train services, because platform closures had to be agreed with train companies a long way in advance.

And, he said, if platforms already laid had to be ripped up, it could cost the company an additional £50,000.

He said Railtrack had tried to act in partnership with the council, starting the station refurbishment earlier than planned in February in order to provide a warm welcome to delegates to the Ecofin conference, and hoped this relationship could continue.

And while conceding that the company had jumped a light in proceeding with work before getting permission, he claimed it had acted in good faith.

He said meetings with planning officers and English Heritage had led it to believe the work would be supported while listed-building consent was being sought.

But Ian Thomson, York's assistant director of planning and environment, said officers gave advice to applicants on a goodwill basis and without prejudice. "It's the members that make the decisions, and that is borne out by what members did yesterday."

Work had been carried out before Ecofin, which had not needed listed-building consent, and the council had had a constructive relationship with Railtrack which he hoped would continue. "We will be having a meeting with Railtrack and want to work to resolve the matter."

The row centres on a new platform surface of brick, laid in a herringbone pattern. Much of platforms seven and eight has already been re-surfaced, with work planned for nine, ten and eleven.

But the scheme came under fire from English Heritage, which said the herringbone pattern would also create a "busy appearance".

Members of the council's planning and transport sub-committee last night expressed disappointment at the colour scheme and the materials used, and refused to grant permission for a retrospective planning application.

A compromise solution put forward by officers - that the brick resurfacing should continue along platforms seven, eight and nine but with platforms 10 and 11 resurfaced in asphalt - was rejected. Coun Brian Watson's proposal that Railtrack should be made to start the work again was also turned down.

Instead, councillors agreed to delay a decision until council officers had met with Railtrack, to see if different materials and colours could be used.

Mike Staff, customer operations manager for GNER, said most customers had backed the resurfacing work.

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