CONCERNS a long awaited £17 million railway station on the outskirts of Worcester could damage Pershore's train station and services have been raised by the town's councillors.

Worcestershire Parkway is a major new project on track to open in Norton, near Worcester, in 2017.

But councillors in Pershore are worried the station will have a negative impact on the town's own services.

Speaking at Pershore Town Council Cllr Julian Palfrey said: "Parkway would improve access to the mainline route, which passes through the county but there are no county stations. That aspect is fine.

"It will provide potential for economical growth. There will be a 500 space car park."

But he carried on to raise concerns with the scheme.

"There's no thought given to existing stations and the affect it will have on these stations. Pershore doesn't even merit a mention."

Their concerns come after it was announced the number of stops at the station was to be reduced by two.

The changes by First Great Western come into force next spring.

They are as a result of a series of consultations and are a reduction from the four stops originally at risk of getting the chop from the timetable.

Cllr Palfrey, who is also the publicity officer of the Cotswold Line Promotion Group, also said while the aim seemed to be to cut journey times this station would create a new stop on some lines.

"Parkway adds an extra stop and extra time," he said. "Already we are losing stops. How much worse will that be if Parkway comes into being? It's worrying. Especially when we have seen such an increase in usage in Pershore.

"It's an important project and it will bring a lot of benefits to the area but it shouldn't be at the expense of other stations and services."

His thoughts were supported by the council but Worcestershire County Councillor Liz Tucker warned: "I appreciate Pershore wants to have the best service it can but the Parkway is an enormously important economic project for the county and I don't want to give people excuses to back off."