RESIDENTS are claiming victory after railway bosses scrapped plans to build a multi-storey car park as part of an £8 million station upgrade.

Greater Anglia's car park proposals for Witham station were branded a "monstrosity" by residents when they were revealed last summer.

They showed the two-tier building would be just 1.5 metres from a block of flats in nearby Station Mews.

But now, updated documents submitted to Braintree Council show the plans have been ditched following consultations with residents and politicians.

Resident Sam Mott was vocal in her opposition to the plans last summer and welcomed Greater Anglia's decision to alter the upgrade.

She said: "We're just relieved that they've taken notice of the strength of anger that they received about this.

"People living in Station Mews were going to be looking out and seeing this thing which wasn't even needed and it was going to have a massive impact on them.

"I've been following what's been going on with Bellway (Gimsons application) and it's encouraging from our point of view to have them back down."

The plans are now made up of a upgrades to both passenger entrances, upgrades to existing car parking spaces and new bicycle storage facilities.

Proposals for new vehicle entrance points on Easton Road and Station Road have also been omitted.

A Greater Anglia spokesman said: “We have consulted with all relevant parties during this process and listened carefully to their views, making changes to the design of the proposed new car park where we can.

"The proposed scheme would offer a substantial increase in parking spaces.

"There is a significant and ongoing growth in demand for car parking at Witham station, so we do need to extend the capacity of the car park to prevent the surrounding streets becoming clogged with on-street parking that adversely affects residents.

"The new trains we will be introducing over the next two years will provide extra capacity, making rail travel an even more attractive option, increasing the need for more station parking still further.

"We are committed to investing in our stations to improve facilities for our customers, while meeting the increased demand for rail travel prompted by new trains and more housing in the Witham area.

"The current proposals represent an investment of around £8 million in Witham station and would be one of the most significant station upgrades on our network during the current franchise.

"We therefore very much hope they will be approved. "Otherwise, the risk is that we would have no option but to invest some of that money elsewhere, if only a smaller scheme is possible at Witham."