PLANS for a new maintenance centre in Derby have been submitted by Network Rail for planning approval.

NR route managing director Martin Frobisher said the scheme was 'central to our plans'. The site is alongside the 28-hectare Chaddesden triangle, which has been zoned for development.

If it goes ahead, the new depot will be a two-storey building providing offices as well as welfare rooms and storage space. Up to 400 staff will be transferred there from existing sites in the East Midlands.

It is hoped work can start in the autumn and that the new depot will open in mid-2013.