Norfolk County Council, which has been strongly criticised for bringing in bailiffs to move protesters who want to stop the 1950s Sheringham bus shelter from being knocked down, has hit back at bullying claims and said the scheme is needed for safety reasons.

Protesters gathered at the shelter, in Station Approach, Sheringham, on Monday last week, saying they had not been properly consulted over plans to replace it with what the authority described as a 'travel hub', at a cost of £580,000.

Despite not owning the land, the council served eviction notices to the protesters on Friday and enlisted bailiffs to move them on, which included some turning up at 4am in the early hours of Monday (December 8).

That prompted criticism from protesters, given Sheringham Town Council is due to hold an emergency meeting about the situation on Tuesday night and prompted the council to stand them down until after that meeting.

But officials at Conservative-controlled County Hall insist that the community was consulted and that the current shelter cannot be retained.

In response to questions from this newspaper, the council said it could not yet say how much it had cost to bring in bailiffs and did not answer our question about whose decision it was to sent them at 4am on Monday.

Inside the bus shelter (Image: Inside the bus shelter in Sheringham where a protestor was sleeping.)

But the authority said, while the land is owned by Sheringham Town Council, County Hall has been handed control of the site for the project, so did have the legal authority to bring in bailiffs.

A spokeswoman said: "We completely reject claims that the council is........

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