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Durham County Council is set to take legal action over 'embarrassing' defects blighting the city's ever-faulty bus station.
The local authority said it would take action against external contractors involved in the build after a series of problems at the bus station, which only opened in 2024.
It comes after more issues were found amid seven months of work to remove and replace defective cladding.
Meanwhile, the city's MP Mary Kelly Foy has described the much-maligned transport hub as a "huge dirty stain" on the area, urging the council to get "every penny possible back" from builders.
Kevin Lough, Durham County Council's interim head of corporate buildings, said: “We can confirm that we are pursuing legal action against the external contractors responsible for the defects at Durham bus station.
“As this process is ongoing, we can't comment further at this stage.”
The authority said the latest issues relate to work carried out by the original contractor and have complicated the programme to replace defective cladding.
Ms Foy added: “It’s simply outrageous how long this bus station is taking to repair and, let’s be honest, if it had been built properly in the first place it wouldn’t be in the state it’s in now.
“It’s a huge dirty stain on our beautiful city and I can’t wait for the work to be completed.
“I hope the local authority get every penny possible back from the original builders, who frankly should be ashamed and embarrassed by the standard of building work they carried out.
“It is utterly disgraceful and not the first time our city has been let down by cowboy builders.”
The bus station, which is currently wrapped in white protective coverings, was expected to take around seven months to repair when work began in May.
The £10.4 million redevelopment finally opened to passengers in January 2024 after a series of construction delays, and the authority said it hoped the new bus station would be a major transport hub for the county and would attract more shoppers and tourists to the area.
But defects emerged almost immediately and the building has required extensive work.
Just a month after opening scaffolding went up when a roller shutter was damaged and needed repairing.
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By November 2024 scaffolding had gone back up around the bus station for what was described as "unforeseen work".
The facility is located on the site of the former bus station, which was demolished to make way for the redevelopment after becoming outdated.
It was designed to increase the overall space for passengers, which includes increasing the reversing area for buses leaving bays and widening the exit onto North Road to improve visibility, with additional pedestrian access also created.