Whitehaven’s £8.2million Bus Station development has officially opened its doors to the public.

The town’s former bus station building has been transformed into a flexible office space with The Peddler restaurant on the ground floor.

It is part of the North Shore scheme, led by BEC, with the help of partners including Copeland Council and the Whitehaven Harbour Commissioners. Sellafield has put £5.7m of funding into the project.

The official opening yesterday was attended by Copeland MP, Trudy Harrison and Copeland mayor, Mike Starkie, along with representatives from BEC and Sellafield.

Bobby Taylor, 10, from Whitehaven, cut the ribbon to officially open the venue.

The Bransty School pupil has been closely watching the development progress and was very “excited” to be a part of the opening.

He and his mother, Keri Taylor, were the first official customers at The Peddler restaurant, where they enjoyed breakfast together.

Mrs Taylor said: “We have been coming past every day. He has been watching it grow from a shell to what it is now. He has been really intrigued with what’s going on.”

Mike Pemberton, chief executive of BEC, said: “We are really proud. It’s a culmination of dedicated people coming together, following a passion to make something happen in the town.

“BEC takes these spaces where no one has any interest and breathes life into them.

“We have been incredibly blessed to work with so many fantastic organisations. 75 per cent of people working on it have been from Cumbria. They used to get the bus here and now they are re-designing it.

“This is for the next generation.”

Craig Lowrey, director of Osprey Management Group, which manages the Peddler, said: “We are delighted to be opening the Peddler this week. We really feel that it will be a vibrant, exciting venue for families, friends and colleagues to get together - whether that be for food, cocktails, or just a coffee and cake from one of the amazing local producers.

“At Osprey we have a set of values which include operating sustainable developments with a real sense of community at the heart of all we do.

“Our partners, BEC, share our values and we feel we have worked together to create a venue that the people of West Cumbria can be really proud of.

“We are thrilled to provide employment opportunities, especially to younger people in the hospitality industry. We have employed about 30 people so far with more to come as the business develops.”

Mr Lowrey said The Peddler will showcase fresh, sustainable, seasonal and local food and drinks, and will support many local businesses in the area, including a tea blender in Cleator Moor, butchers in Whitehaven and fish from the harbour.

He added: “We hope that when our guests visit they enjoy the amazing local produce in a vibrant new facility. We feel the Peddler will really enhance the already vibrant hospitality scene in the town. Our company motto is ‘always among friends’ and we cannot wait to share the Peddler with our guests.”

Gary McKeating, head of development and community for Sellafield, said: “To come down Bransty hill and see something that was so derelict now vibrant is brilliant to see.

“It’s fantastic to see the Sellafield social impact programme delivering in Whitehaven.

“We look forward to working with our partners on more projects in the future.”

Mike Starkie said: “I’m delighted we have got to the opening day. I think it’s a fantastic facility and it’s the launch pad for the regeneration of the whole town. It ticks all the boxes.”

Trudy Harrison said: “I’m delighted to be here today. This represents what Whitehaven really needs. The Peddler restaurant will provide a place for locals, visitors, businesses and entrepreneurs to come together and share ideas.

“Thanks to Sellafield, BEC, Copeland Council and the people of Whitehaven, in particular, need to be recognised for making this happen.”

Mrs Harrison added that she had sampled the food in the Peddler at a taster evening last week and said it was “delicious”.

Jamie Reed, head of corporate affairs at Sellafield, said: “This is a fantastic demonstration of what can happen in our part of the world when the right people work together.

“Partnership is central to the success of this project and will be central to the success of other projects in the future. This is just the beginning of an exciting programme of development funded by Sellafield and the NDA, alongside BEC, the Harbour Commissioners and other partners.”