THE Isle of Wight Council has strongly refuted claims it had anything to do with the IW Bus Shelter's decision to close.

A spokesperson said this afternoon: “We strongly refute any suggestion the IW Council has prevented The Bus Shelter from re-opening.

“On the contrary, the council was willing to continue to support them in their efforts to find a new, suitable location for the shelter.

“We did meet with the charity to discuss locations, however, they then told us they had found a new site and no longer needed council assistance. They have not approached us since.

“We would have considered using the service once it reopened had we had sufficient assurance that it met appropriate standards of health and safety.

"In the meantime, we have secured an appropriate quality of service from alternative providers with whom we can continue to work with in the future.

“We are disappointed the service is going but, to reiterate, the charity has not made any approaches to the council before coming to this conclusion.

“Any decision not to reopen is entirely down to the charity itself and not this local authority.”

The Bus Shelter yesterday announced it was closing, and bus was being sold to help the homeless in Norwich.

It announced: "With a heavy heart I'm sorry to say that, as the IW Council has not allowed us to open again, we are closing down."