A new footbridge, with lifts, is to be built at a railway station to help passengers with mobility problems.

Bexley Railway Station is to become fully accessible by this time next year, says Network Rail.

The bridge will be funded by the Department for Transport and installed by BAM Nuttall, with the project costing around £6m.

It will have two 16-person capacity lifts which will be behind the existing subway and help passengers with impaired mobility or those travelling with luggage, children, or cycles to access the platforms.

Platform one will also be widened to create space for the lifts and allow passengers to navigate through the station a lot easier.

Alongside this, a new footbridge will be built to allow passengers to easily get from one side of the platform to the other.

Fiona Taylor, Network Rail’s Kent route director, said: "We’re delighted to have started work on the new ‘Access for All’ scheme at Bexley station, providing step-free access to both platforms and to give passengers even more journey opportunities."

There will be a partial closure of some car parking spaces during construction and 36 season ticket spaces will be suspended until the end of December.

Bexley station will remain open to passengers throughout the work and rail services will not be affected.

Work has already started taking place with the removal of trees and bushes on the embankments and the relocation of some of the station furniture to accommodate the work area.

Platform hoarding will shortly be put in place on both platforms.