Shelters have been removed in Sheffield city centre after a busy bus route was pedestrianised.

Glass shelters by the Peace Gardens on Pinstone Street have gone, four years after the last bus departed.

Bus shelters on Pinstone Street have been removed, three years after the road was controversially pedestrianised. | National World

placeholder image — Bus shelters on Pinstone Street have been removed, three years after the road was controversially pedestrianised. | National World

The road was closed to traffic in June 2020 to allow social distancing. Some 36 services were diverted and alternative stops installed on Arundel Gate and Rockingham Street.

The move sparked protests from passengers over the distance they now had to walk and from shops who feared a loss of trade.

But it was welcomed by health professionals, more than 500 signed a petition to keep it. The closure also affected Surrey and Leopold streets.

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Pinstone Street in 2019. Some 36 bus services were diverted when it was closed to traffic. | Google

It was made permanent in March 2021. Since then the shelters have been used by buskers and Jehovah’s Witnesses, who take shelter when it is raining.

In March, The Star revealed Pinstone Street will be turned into a 'pedestrian and cycle zone' with 'improved paving materials and planting' 'towards the end of 2024' with work set to last more than a year.

A four-star Radisson Blu hotel opened on Pinstone Street in summer.

In March, Councillor Ben Miskell said: "We will be working closely with the hotel and other city centre businesses, and users, to minimise any short-term disruption, whilst we make the improvements we have planned in order to turn Pinstone Street and neighbouring streets into a fantastic place for people to live, work and enjoy Sheffield.”