RAILWAY buffs got their wrists slapped by some district councillors this week for interfering with plans to give High Wycombe railway station area a major facelift.

Members of the Broad Gauge Society discovered that what is known as the Goods Shed, partly occupied by a tyre firm, was the original station building dating from 1854 and designed by the famous rail engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

The station is the oldest of only four surviving Brunel-designed stations.

The society managed to get the shed listed by Culture Secretary Chris Smith in January and the buildings will have to be incorporated into the new development.

Mr Smith listed the building because of its historical importance rather than its architectural merit.

Now the High Wycombe Society says the building should be restored to "the handsome appearance it had in Brunel's day and put into use as a heritage centre".

But on Monday at a meeting of Wycombe District Council's planning environment and transportation committee, Labour member Anthea Hardy (Downley), who is an architect, was not impressed and described the building as a shack.

Why preserve ancient Isambard Kingdom Brunel structures, she asked?

She said it would cause the architects enormous difficulty and councillors ought to write to the people involved to tell them what a nuisance they had been.

Cllr Hardy said the society's viewpoint was only held by people who had a love of railways, it was costing the council a lot of money and the buildings should have gone to a railway museum.

Tory member Richard Pushman (Naphill-cum-Bradenham) said Wycombe station was in the wrong place anyway and always had been. He said it should be on the flat, where it would tie in with the Western Sector development and Cressex.

"I am sorry we are putting considerable financing into a second best choice," he said. "But I suppose that is the way of the world."

Committee chairman Chris Oliver (Con, Princes Risborough) said the station had been listed for its historical significance. Moving it would destroy it and wasn't a realistic option.

He said: "I hope the architects will come up with a brilliant scheme."

The plan, being drawn up in co-operation with Chiltern Railways and Buckinghamshire County Council with developers John Laing, is to improve the whole station area, so that people arriving at the town by train are welcomed in a modern environment.

There will be what is described as a 'high quality transport interchange', with a dedicated busway from London Road at Spring Gardens to the station.

The development will also include 50,000 square feet of office space.

A planning application for the busway should be submitted in the next few months.