THE Dartmouth Steam Railway and Riverboat Company has responded for the first time over its decision to build its £200,000 new office complex.

Until now it has kept silent in the face of increasing opposition to the controversial development at Kingswear railway station where construction work is already nearing completion.

Manager Andrew Pooley said it was planned to move staff into the new offices in the first week of November.

He said: 'As far as we are concerned we have done everything according to planning law.'

And he added: We positioned it where it is for operational requirements. We also positioned it where we thought it had the least impact.'

He said the offices were being built to house some 10 steam railway staff from the company's Paignton offices.

And he warned: 'The offices are imperative for the continued success of the business.'

Mr Pooley said the company is now the biggest tourism business in the area when it comes to 'footfall' as it provides more than one million passenger journeys per year through its railway, riverboat and bus operations.

He said he had avoided commenting on the protests so far because he feared he would simply 'fuel the fire'.

But this week he said: 'We checked with South Hams Council before we started construction and we were within our permitted rights to construct the building.'

He added: 'We like to think we are one of the local business success stories. We are a major contributor to the continued prosperity of Dartmouth based on the number of people we bring into the town. We provide all-year-round employment for a large number of people and subsidiary businesses.'

He said the company looked at its Paignton operation and decided it needed a 'much larger cafeteria, a state of the art workshop and a modern shopping experience' which put pressure on the Paignton 'footprint'.

'Moving the admin staff to Kingswear takes pressure of the footprint there,' he added.

He said the building was being constructed in a 'traditional' manner and added: 'We have not put a modern building in there which we would have been within our rights to do. It's a damned sight better building than the building that was there 25 years ago. I am sorry that they don't like it but we have done a number of things to ensure that it blends in and affect only a few people in restricting their view – not obliterating their view.'

He said the building had had to be two storeys high so that staff could see just what was happening in the station.

He added: 'We don't make an investment of that size lightly.'