Council bosses are preparing to oust bus station businesses to pave the way for a multi-million-pound redevelopment.
Traders at the busy Perth terminal have been warned they could be forced out as part of ambitious plans for a new transport hub.
The planned interchange is likely to merge both bus and train stations, although details have yet to be released.
The current bus station – which was recently likened to an eastern European housing block from the 1950s – has been earmarked for redevelopment as part of the council’s latest Local Development Plan (LDP).
According to letters sent out to shopkeepers just before Christmas, the one-and-a-half acre site could be transformed into a hotel, leisure facility, offices or housing “if an alternative location for the bus station is found”.
The move has come as a shock to passengers, as well as the owner of a café which has operated at the station for 20 years.
Mary Graham, who runs the Bus ‘Y’ Bite outlet with her daughter, Christine, said: “I received the letter from the council on Christmas Eve and phoned them but they were closed for around two weeks.”
Cafe owners recently agreed a new lease with the council and negotiations are now under way for a new “three year term with annual mutual break options” – which the Graham family say is effectively a yearly lease.
Mrs Graham, 52, said: “We were absolutely shocked by this decision as this café is our livelihood. I’ve run the café here for 20 years and have lots of loyal customers who are angered by this move.
“When I eventually got through to the council, an employee told me there was no timeline on this proposal and that a new bus station would either be built at the rail station or at Broxden. I don’t know what we’re going to do once the bus station closes.”
Christine Graham, 31, added: “The council should have spent money on the bus station. It’s been allowed to deteriorate over the past 20 years. However, this is still the best site for a bus station as it’s so central.
“We have at least three customers who come in here before boarding their buses who are aged in their 90s and they are devastated that the station may close.”
A spokesman for RS McColl’s, which has a branch at the station, confirmed the business will not be objecting to the LDP and were already looking to relocation.
Pete Wishart, SNP MP for Perth and North Perthshire, said he has written to the council to seek assurances that bus station users will have “minimal disruption” to services.
Murdo Fraser, Conservative MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, added: “It’s important that Perth has a modern, easily accessible bus station and this must be retained if the current site ceases to continue as a station.”
John Swinney, SNP MSP for Perthshire North, said: “I understand that people might be concerned by the suggestion that the station could be moved to a new location.”
The council hopes the new transport hub will attract more tourists, replacing the much maligned bus station, and have been in talks with both Scotrail and Network Rail regarding the proposal.
A local authority spokeswoman said: “We are in communication with both tenants for renewal of their leases for another three year term incorporating annual mutual break options.
“Both current leases are coming to an end and it is standard practice that a notice is served in this process and there is an ongoing dialogue as part of the new lease terms to be agreed.”
She added: “We remain in dialogue with Network Rail/Scotrail regarding the development of a medium to long term masterplan for improvement to rail infrastructure and linked transport improvements and development opportunities within the station and adjacent sites and elsewhere in the city.”
Former councillor Alan Livingstone compared the bus station to a “1950s eastern European housing estate.”
