IRON supports which have held up London's Waterloo Station roof for 100 years are being restored by a Sittingbourne firm.

Medway Galvanising is treating 320 trusses at its purpose-built plant in Castle Road, on the town's Eurolink estate.

Each is dismantled above a high-strength crash deck, which safeguards the travelling public below, before being piece-marked and packed into crates for the journey to Sittingbourne.

After shot-blasting to remove layers of dirt and corrosion, each section is examined for any evidence of weakness - in places shrapnel damage dating from the Blitz has been found.

Each piece is then immersed in treatment tanks before being returned to the station and rebuilt. Also being treated are new roof sections which will carry glazing, and deep section box gutters, designed not only to drain the roof but also to double as a walkway for maintenance workers.

Design consultant Chris Webster said: "We visited Medway Galvanising's works and were impressed with the standards of practice. We have found the firm to be a very good company and, with the roof two thirds complete, have received no complaints."