WYCOMBE'S brand spanking new bus station opened on Sunday - but only one passenger was there to mark the historic moment as the first bus pulled in at 2.15am.

Pomaret Florian, 23, from West Wycombe, arrived at the state-of-the-art station in Bridge Street in the pouring rain just in time to catch the National Express coach to Stansted, where he was catching a flight home to France.

But it was by sheer luck that he caught the bus as he didn't even know that the new station had opened.

He said: "I went to the old one and it was closed so I ended up running here, to the right place. But it looks as though this new bus station will be good."

Newlands bus station closed on Saturday after the last bus departed just before midnight. The new spacious complex - which, for rainy days like Sunday, features a big glass enclosure where people can stay warm and dry - has replaced the current run-down and dingy station in Newlands Road.

The new building's completion is part of the Eden town centre redevelopment.

Outside the front entrance to the new facility there are 18 ports lined up to pick up and drop off passengers. The first bus left from Gate F.

Driving that bus was John Mellor, 64. His entry into his new parking spot did not run smoothly as the orange traffic cones laid out at the entrance to the new facility had not been removed.

But once he got past those, he said: "I'm excited about this new bus shelter. The old one was dilapidated. And it's good that people can wait inside now."

He has worked for National Express for five years and, before that, he drove buses in London, including the traditional Routemasters.

Bus operators described the new bus station as a breath of fresh air ahead of its opening on Sunday.