MULTI-million-pound work to overhaul the area around Southampton Central Railway Station is set to finish weeks early.

The £5m project to improve the area north of the station is now set to finish.

Transport chiefs say it will be complete in late September – three or four weeks ahead of schedule.

The work is taking place as part of a major project, largely funded through £4.4m of government cash.

It is hoped that the regeneration scheme will help to create a new Station Quarter for the city.

The first phase was started last year and has seen an artistic feature, called Canal Shore, installed along Blechynden Terrace.

During the second phase an “amphitheatre-style events space” is being built outside Frobisher House.

A new bus interchange facility will also be built in Wyndham Place.

There will be new lighting features and seating areas installed outside Wyndham Court.

The station’s northern forecourt will be pedestrianised.

That will include new seating and lighting added as well as sheltered cycle storage for 140 bicycles.

There will also be a new drop-off point built to cater for people with disabilities.

Council leaders have spoken of their hope that their work will create a “more welcoming experience” for people travelling to and from the city.