The car park at a busy south Norfolk railway station could be extended by 69 parking bays.An application for a Certificate of Lawfulness has been submitted to increase the number of spaces at Diss Railway Station, which sits on the Norwich to London Liverpool Street line.

THE car park at a busy south Norfolk railway station could be extended by 69 parking bays.

An application for a Certificate of Lawfulness has been submitted to increase the number of spaces at Diss Railway Station, which sits on the Norwich to London Liverpool Street line.

The plans submitted by Network Rail and London Eastern Railway Ltd - which trades under the name National Express East Anglia - include extending the existing car park in Station Road onto land currently occupied by railway sidings.

The layout of the whole car park will also be redesigned.

In total, 204 spaces will be provided, with 198 standard bays and six bays specifically for disabled parking.

This is compared to the current 130 standard spaces and five spaces for disabled parking.

The proposed extension area is owned by Network Rail and the lease to DB Schenker - formerly English Welsh and Scottish Railways - is being surrendered to National Express East Anglia so the work can take place.

A spokesman for National Express East Anglia said the car park extension was needed to improve safety and meet increased demand from passengers wishing to park at the station.

He said: 'Last year we announced a service improvement plan to increase capacity on our train services into Liverpool Street and to expand a number of car parks at key locations including Diss.

'We're planning to start work on the car park extension this autumn and it should be finished by spring 2011.

'We'll make every effort to ensure any inconvenience is kept to an absolute minimum. Customers will be able to use the car park throughout the duration of the extension work.'