Hackbridge station is to get a £350,000 facelift.

The work, set to begin next year, are to make the station more accessible for passengers, especially older and disabled people and those with pushchairs or luggage.

Changes include a new step-free path from London Road to platform two, an accessible toilet, an adjustable ticket counter and automatic doors.

Sutton Council and Southern Railway worked together to bid for £325,000 funding from the Department of Transport.

Southern will contribute the remaining £25,000 to the project.

Councillor Simon Wales, executive member for communities, transport and voluntary Sector, said: “This is excellent news and shows what can be achieved by working in partnership.

"It is going to be of great benefit to those who currently struggle to access their local train station and will allow them to use public transport independently.”

Kirsty Monk, Southern’s accessibility manager, said: “We are delighted that our passengers who need ease of access and who use Hackbridge station will soon benefit from these much needed improvements. We thank Sutton Council for working with us to support our bid for funding.”

The funding is part of the £37.5m new national Department for Transport Mid Tier fund, which is part of the Access For All programme, that aims to make the train stations in the successful bids more accessible between now and 2014.

Sutton Council hopes the improvements will help to support the council’s ambition for Hackbridge to become a flagship sustainable suburb.