COLOURFUL Westhoughton Station has been shortlisted for a National Community Rail Award.

Over the past two years volunteers from Friends of Westhoughton Station have been getting their hands dirty in a bid to transform the site.

The station was formerly derelict and unwelcoming but at the hands of volunteers and with help from other community groups the site is now a sea of colour and boasts a series of landscaped gardens, plant displays and pottery animals.

Steven Freeborn, chairman of Friends of Westhoughton Station, said: "We are all very excited at being shortlisted.

"When we started the project at the beginning of 2013 we actually said that we didn't want any awards for it because the recognition from the local people and their appreciation is all we wanted so we were a bit unsure when one of the volunteers nominated us.

"But to have been shortlisted and to actually get that recognition on a national scale is actually a really good feeling and we are all very pleased.

"It's when people come down to the station when you are there and tell us how much of a fantastic job we are doing and that they come down here to just sit and drink their coffee and have a sandwich looking at the flowers — that is what it is all about."

The station has been entered into category three of the National Community Rail Awards and is up for Best Station Garden and Large Floral Display.

Matthew Worman at Northern Rail said: “At Westhoughton, they have drastically improved the station. It is appealing to people who travel to and from the station and attracts a lot of visitors in its own right.”

Cllr David Chadwick, who has supported the project since its inception, said he was thrilled.

He added: "The Friends of Westhoughton have worked so hard and this is just a testament to that and their tenacity.

"The station was in a very bad state but to see it now just shows what a wonderful job they have done.

"It is a beautiful gateway into the town of Westhoughton and I have got my fingers crossed for them."