Former Preston to Longridge rail line clean up operation continues and it could appear on TV

The scale of the rubbish cleared by volunteers and a cleaned up section of the rail line Pic: Blog Preston

A documentary is set to be made about a former railway line that sits abandoned through Preston.

Work is ongoing to clean up the former Preston to Longridge railway line.

Much of it has disappeared over the years under fly-tipping and overgrown vegetation.

But a group of volunteers have now shifted more than 12 tonnes of rubbish on a stretch in Deepdale.

And there efforts have caught the eyes of TV crews who are seeking to make a programme about the efforts to restore the line.

Below The Radar TV recently made Restoration Rescue for the BBC which featured people in Northern Ireland restoring heritage buildings.

The clean up operation is being led by Andrew Pratt and began in early February this year.

He said: “We are now 300m into the old Deepdale railway line from the Skeffington Road railway crossing.

“More than 20 volunteers have worked with Network Rail to shift the 12 tonnes of rubbish.

“But we still have mountains more to shift.”

The clean up operation is set to take around a year to remove all the rubbish.

Part of the line at Deepdale being cleared is proposed to operate as a test track to showcase the potential for the city to operate a tram network.

Preston Trampower proposes to run a tram line into the city centre along parts of the old railway line.

Anyone who can help with the clean up operation is asked to contact Andrew on andrewpratt1@btinternet.com

Anyone with memories or information about the rail line when it operated is asked to contact Laura McAlea from Below the Radar TV on laura@belowtheradar.tv

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