Final bell is set to sound for parts of the Preston Bus depot in Deepdale Road

Parent company Rotala has submitted an application to the city council to demolish garages and workshops at the 117-year-old site with a view to redeveloping the complex at a later date.

The firm says: “The existing garage facilities were erected in the early part of the 20th century and are not currently a safe working environment with potential vehicle movement hazards.”

Rotala has given an assurance that the site will remain as a bus depot and eventually will be “redeveloped to suit the requirements of a 21st century public transport facility.”

The ornate stone building fronting onto Deepdale Road, built in 1914, is not part of the plan and will be preserved.

But garaging facilities behind it will be knocked down over a two-month period beginning on April 24, subject to council approval. Hazardous asbestos materials thought to be present will be safely removed.

The area will be cleared to become a hardstanding for buses until redevelopment can take place.

The bus depot was opened in 1904 to house and repair Preston’s fleet of trams. Buses were also garaged there from 1922 and eventually took over the complex as trams were phased out in 1935.

Preston Council owned the bus company until it sold it in a management buy-out in 1993.

Rotala bought Preston Bus in 2011 and it now has a fleet of 120 vehicles and 260 staff.

The company is promising more investment in the Deepdale Road facilities.