Heritage railway bosses are to give details of their application for £600,000 in lottery cash to a parish council in a bid to win its support.

Keighley & Worth Valley Railway members are to give a presentation to Oxenhope Parish Council at its meeting in the village community centre on Thursday starting at 7.30pm.

Local people are invited along to see the proposal for the construction of a maintenance and service depot at Oxenhope station which would be purpose-built for heritage carriages.

The railway has applied to the heritage lottery for the cash and is now seeking backing to support its case and persuade lottery bosses to hand over the financial help.

KWVR chairman Graham Mitchell said the bid was being spearheaded by Nigel Ward of the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway Trust.

"We are in the middle of negotiations for the heritage money and as part of that, we have to talk to local interested groups. The presentation to the parish council is part of that,'' he said.

He added that the plan was an ambitious scheme to provide the railway with a building in which to service and restore the historical coaches.

"At present all the carriages are kept outside in all weathers, 650 feet above sea level in Oxenhope. We must take steps to prolong the life of these coaches,'' he added.

The steam engines are kept at Haworth where there are sheds to store them and to carry out restoration work and servicing.

Mr Ward said they had until mid November to complete the package to be presented to the Lottery Commission.

"We are preparing estimates and drawings and by mid November we hope to have them submitted and we would expect the final decision within four months,'' he added.

He said the building was important because it would provide shelter for the carriages which were a valuable commodity and must be protected for the future.

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