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Sadiq Khan has scrapped plans to move London’s main coach station from Victoria to a new site in Bayswater following opposition from residents.

The Mayor confirmed in a letter to Labour MP Karen Buck that the proposed location near Royal Oak Underground station “presented significant challenges” and was no longer considered an option.

Transport for London will have to give up its use of most of the Art Deco, Grade II-listed Victoria Coach Station on Buckingham Palace Road in 2023, when several leases expire.

The freeholder of the land, property company Grosvenor, is thought to want to redevelop the valuable three-acre site, which handles 470,000 coaches per year. The land in Royal Oak was seen as an attractive alternative because of its proximity to a Tube station and easy access to the M40, a popular coach route.

The suggestion angered many living nearby, who said the thousands of departures and arrivals would create congestion chaos and dramatically worsen pollution in an area where there are 15 schools within a half-mile radius. A delegation had been due to hold a protest and hand in a petition to TfL headquarters in Southwark today.

But in his letter Mr Khan said “further investigation” of the narrow plot of land at Royal Oak had revealed obstacles “relating to the day-to-day operation of the site and viability.”

It added: “TfL has therefore decided not to take forward plans for a coach station at Royal Oak.” The site is still likely to be used for a “mixed-use” development with housing and possibly offices and shops, but any future plans will not include a coach station.

Mr Khan said that “TfL will continue to investigate other options for providing the coach facilities that London requires.”

Ms Buck, who represents the Westminster North constituency, said: “I have been working with councillor Maggie Carman to make the case to the Mayor and TfL and to demonstrate the level of community concerns, so it is a great relief that these have been listened to. I am more than pleased that the Mayor has recognised Royal Oak to be an inappropriate site, not least in view of our concerns about air quality and existing traffic levels.”

The coach station has been based in Victoria since 1932 and has been owned by TfL and its predecessor London Transport since 1988. However, TfL has only limited control over coach services coming in and out of the capital.

TfL has said a number of options are still under consideration, including keeping part or all of the coach hub in Victoria. Other locations said to be under consideration include Heathrow and Old Oak Common.

Nickie Aiken, leader of Westminster council, said: “Westminster Council and local councillors have been vocal from the start that this was never the right location for a coach station, so I am glad the Mayor has heeded those arguments.

“If we are serious about cutting the levels of pollution across the capital, Victoria, Bayswater or anywhere else in central London is not the place for it.”

