A BUS stop shut just days after it re-opened as part of a £1.4 million refurbishment project because of health and safety fears.

The Falmer Village south bus stop on the A27 was closed in February for a makeover while Highways England put in a new kerb during repairs on the adjacent footbridge and they added a disabled access ramp.

The bus stop re-opened last week but is already out of action again after Brighton and Hove Bus Company raised concerns about pulling back onto the 70-mile-an-hour A27 from the layby. It means passengers face a walk to Falmer Station to use the bus.

Vic Ient, Lewes District Councillor for the area, branded it a "complete mess up".

He said: "I'm astounded Highways England have gone all the way through this process, with all this expenditure, and the layby is not fit for purpose. This just shows how incompetent these organisations can be.

"I was initially pleased that the work was coming to an end and it looked good. I didn't see that much difference between the layby that was and the layby that is. But I can now see the point the bus company is making - that road has become faster and faster with much heavier traffic than when the bus stop was first installed."

Highways England said most of the money was spent on repairing the footbridge with minimal costs to upgrading the bus stop and lay by - which has been shut by the bus company.

A Highways England spokesman said: "The upgrade we’ve recently completed on the Falmer footbridge involved replacing important components on the bridge and rebuilding the access ramp to the bus stop on the westbound A27. The changes to the bus stop itself were minimal. Safety is Highways England’s top priority and we are working with Brighton and Hove Buses to try and reinstate services from the bus stop as soon as possible. In the meantime passengers will be able to use the next stop at Falmer station."

Brighton and Hove Buses confirmed the bus stop was out of use at present for "health and safety reasons" but could not provide more detail at the time.

The problem is expected to be discussed at Falmer Parish Council's meeting on Tuesday.