WORK has started this week on a £435,000 upgrade to Orpington station.

Builders moved on site on Monday (January 6) to start construction of a brand new booking hall on platform one.

In addition to the hall, which will have two accessible ticket office windows, the project will provide a heated waiting room on platform two and improved customer information screens.

A Southeastern spokeswoman said: "This project is part of our ongoing commitment to invest in and improve rail services for our passengers.

"We're creating a much more spacious booking hall with a queuing system which will improve the ticket purchasing experience especially during peak periods.

"The work will take several months to complete so we’d like to thank our customers in advance for their patience during this time.

"Once the work is complete, the station booking hall will be more spacious with better access both into the booking hall and onto the platform."