Southend Council is facing a £118,000 bill - because nobody wants to rent the shops inside the town's new bus station.

The building was designed with space for cafes and shops to serve travellers and provide rent income to help cover cleaning, maintenance and other costs.

But commercial spaces in the £2million Government-funded "travel centre" - meant to be a showcase for the town - are still empty, landing the council with extra expense.

Officials have also revealed the bus station may now never be extended to take in bus services which currently leave from stops scattered elsewhere in the town centre.

In a bid to attract tenants, David Garston, councillor responsible for development, has urged officials to "be generous in their offers" to anyone interested in setting up shop in the building.

The bus station was originally intended as the first phase of a larger project and accommodates fewer bus services than its predecessor.

It has been a source of constant complains from travelllers about the lack of seating, malfunctioning doors and dangerous traffic diversions.

Today Mr Garston admitted: "Unless we are able to obtain outside funding, there are no plans to extend the travel centre, because the site is too small to be expanded, unless it was part of a major scheme."

He said bus operators were still paying the council the same amount per vehicle to use the station as they were for the previous York Road bus station.

And he added: "This means our income is only in the region of £43,000 . Until we can find operators interested in providing facilities there, we have to have money available for the continued running costs of the building and the whole of the complex.

"There are a lot of things I would like to see done at the travel centre but at the moment, we are still in the early days.

"I hope we will not have to spend the £118,000 we have included in the budget.

"However, I would rather have a higher amount in the budget and then be able to spend less, than have to call for extra cash later."

Donald Fraser, acting chairman of the Southend Bus Users' Group, said he felt £118,000 was a lot to allow for maintenance.

He added: "I really can't see what the council need that amount, when it's only for cleaning out the toilets and keeping the place tidy.

"The travel centre is an improvement on the old bus station, but it can be confusing for people, especially visitors and those who aren't used to it"