Parents are pushing for a vandalised bus shelter in the middle of a busy housing estate to be replaced.

The panels on the shelter on Meadow Road in Mirehouse have been kicked in and the inside of the shelter daubed with graffiti.

Whitehaven town councillor for Mirehouse, Siobhan Gearing, said: “It’s the only shelter we have on the 09 side (of Mirehouse) and many kids use it on a wet day while waiting for school buses.”

As well as having the shelter repaired, Mrs Gearing also wants at least one more bus shelter in the area.

“Many of us have to either put our children in complete waterproofs or send them with dry clothes to change into,” she added.

“People have been vandalising bus shelters and anything they can for a while, but this particular bus shelter was damaged around three weeks ago.”

Mrs Gearing has emailed all of the councillors sitting on the town council to ask what can be done to resolve the issue.

She said the matter is due to be discussed at a future meeting.

“This is big concern for me as there are so many school children who wait at the bus shelter for the bus to St Benedict’s School, St Begh’s School and St Gregory’s and St Patrick’s School,” she said.

“These children try to take shelter but still end up in school soaked to the bone. We have the elderly who try to keep warm and dry here while waiting for their appointments.

Personally for me, and so many of Mirehouse residents, this is an urgent issue and hopefully can be dealt with in an appropriate time frame.”