DISABLED people in Evesham could have to wait for another five years before they have access to both platforms in the town's railway station, it was revealed this week.

For a disagreement between Worcestershire County Council and Network Rail over the installation of a ramp looks set to rumble on.

Last week county Councillor John Smith voiced his displeasure at the amount of time it had taken to reach an agreement with Network Rail on the ramp and the escalating costs that were being put forward by the company.

But Network Rail said it have done its best to get the scheme up and running and added that it believed the county council had pulled the plug on the project.

Network Rail spokeswoman Hazel Moss said: "This was a local authority project and we have been working very closely with them to realise their aspirations.

"However, we understand that Worcestershire County Council has since decided to discontinue the scheme. We will continue to work with them should it decides to reinstate the scheme."

This was a fact disputed by the council which said the scheme had not been discontinued but spiralling costs meant that it is now to be part of its local transport plan for 2006-2011.

The scheme was originally thought to only cost around £55,000 but the figure quoted at the last meeting of the two parties was nearer £150,000.

This significant rise in cost is due to so many changes having been made to the plans according to the county council's Maggie Jameson who has been overseeing the scheme.

She said: "The cost has increased so significantly because of the number of design changes and the fact that we have had to re-do a lot of work in order to fit in with Network Rail and First Great Western plans.

"Changes have had to be made to items such as lighting, the track, the ramps design and signs which have all cost a lot of money.

"We have identified the funds to be able to carry out the project as part of our local transport plan and as we have worked so hard on this, we hope that an agreement can be reached soon."