Bulldozers poised to demolish building at bus station

This is the last picture of Wolverhampton's Pipers Row House before it is pulled down tomorrow to make way for the entrance to the new £22.5 million bus station.

The building, which used to house a Spar shop and a trade union office, is left of the middle in this bird's eye view as work goes ahead on the first stage of a £174m revamp of public transport in Wolverhampton.

With Pipers Row House gone the Queens Building seen above it will be given more prominence as it forms a key part of a development,due to be complete by next summer. Today, with

its mounds of rock and concrete, it is easy to mistake the sprawling bus station site for a quarry.

But transport bosses believe it will be worth the wait for a modern terminus. The former station has been gutted and foundations are being laid for a 19-stand replacement. The Queens Building is being protected with boards as work goes on.

It once served as the place for passengers to wait to be taken by coach and horse to the nearby train station and was most recently the entrance into the old bus station.

But there are plans for it to become shops, leisure space or even a restaurant as part of the redevelopment.

The blue and white building is a temporary office set up by the contractors Bam.

Staff are using that as a base of operations during the 18 month project. Also visible is the work taking place on Ring Road St David's to the right, where cars are being forced to a 20mph crawl while two extra lanes are created. The lanes will serve to bring the buses to the station.