TWO entrepreneurs are set to brighten the daily commute for travellers by opening a coffee shop at Dumbarton Central Station.

Chris Pollock, 30, and his partner Harriet Chatten, 31, both from Dumbarton, secured a £24,000 grant from First Scotrail to transform a vacant store room.

The funding came from the Stations Community Regeneration Fund, a joint scheme by Transport Scotland and First ScotRail.

The shop, called The Food Station, will be located on Platform 1 and will sell hot beverages, breakfasts, snacks and newspapers.

A planning application has been lodged with West Dunbartonshire Council for permission to convert the store room for catering use.

And there is plenty of work to do, Chris said: “It needs a new ceiling, new walls and a full kitchen fitted.

“It also needs electricity and plumbing put in, it’s just a store room that’s been sitting empty for the past thirty years.” Use of the station and funding has been arranged through the Stations Community Regeneration Fund.

Chris found out about the scheme through his work as a historian with the Strathleven Artizans, which promotes the links between the area and King Robert the Bruce.

The new business will be a career change for Chris, who studied history at Stirling University.