Hard-working volunteers have completed a major project to revitalise the site of the former railway station in their village.

The Heritage Railway Project, in Thornton, has involved the removal of five tonnes of silt, weeds and rubbish to reveal a pleasant cobbled area where people can sit and relax.

A new station information board has been unveiled by Margaret Sutcliffe, aged 91, who, along with her family, paid £3,000 for the board which has a dedication to her brother, James Albert Allen, whose grandfather worked on the station as a porter.

Alan Whitaker, whose father was the last stationmaster at the station, provided the history and pictures for it.

The £15,500 history project is part of Thornton’s entry into the 2009 Yorkshire in Bloom competition and was helped with £10,000 from the Councillors’ Ward Investment Fund, topped up by Thornton Community Partnership.

Councillor Valerie Binney, chairman of Thornton in Bloom committee, said: “We are all thrilled to bits with what we’ve achieved.

“The railway station closed in 1955 and the area we have been working on was the old entrance where you used to go over on a bridge and down into the station from that entrance.

“It had been left for 54 years and, over the years, it had grown over and it looked awful.

“It was a big job to clear the area and we often worked through the pouring rain to get it done. We wanted the area to look as natural as possible, so we have revealed all the original cobbles. We have also lowered the wall so people can see the wonderful view and there are benches where walkers can stop off and eat their sandwiches as they are walking along the trail.”

Coun Binney (Con, Thornton and Allerton) said the Thornton in Bloom committee had been hindered by thefts of flowers throughout the village.

Hanging baskets and planters had been taken, and thieves had already stolen flowers from near the Heritage Railway Project.

e-mail: will.kilner @telegraphandargus.co.uk