RAIL users have been forced to weather woes at the town's station owing to a gaping hole in the roof.

Bolton railway station passengers say they have been left cold and wet and unable to sit on benches on platform four after a space in the covering appeared.

Their misery has been made worse as platforms four and five have been without a waiting room for several months.

A spokesman for Northern said: “Bolton is a key station for us and we are carrying out significant work to improve the station for our customers.

“New waiting rooms, customer information points and toilets are currently being built which, when complete, will give all customers in Bolton a much better environment.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused during this improvement work and are doing all we can to keep issues to a minimum while the construction is carried out.”

The spokesman added: “We are grateful to the customer for raising the issue of roof damage. The panels had been inspected as part of the improvement project and were removed as they were unsafe – they are in the process of being repaired and replaced.”