MORE than 60 MPs have now backed a campaign to reopen the Skipton to Colne railway line as part of the National Rail Network.

SELRAP - the Skipton to East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership - has the backing of 61 MPs from all parties including Pendle's Gordon Prentice, Skipton's David Curry and Keighley's Ann Cryer. The group can also count 18 MEPs and many other public bodies and individuals as supporters.

SELRAP spokesman and former Earby Community Centre manager Roy St Pierre said: "The closure should never have happened. Restoration will open up so many travel opportunities, not only for the residents of Skipton and East Lancashire but for the Yorkshire and Humberside and North West Regions. It will improve employment and leisure options especially for those who have no access to a car."

For more information or to join SELRAP, go to selrap.org.uk or contact membership secretary Derek Jennings at 3 Hamilton Road, Carr Hall, Barrowford, Nelson.