PARISH councillors are angry that bosses appear to have ruled out reopening a rural railway station.

North Turton Parish Council has written to Blackburn with Darwen Council to protest at its view that reopening Turton and Edgworth station would not be viable.

Darwen MP Janet Anderson and Network Rail bosses have also been sent letters.

The parish council acted after seeing a copy of the borough council’s latest Local Transport Plan, which concludes that the project, estimated to cost £2million, would be “unlikely to be considered viable” by Network Rail.

The council had carried out population and passenger prediction studies to reach its verdict.

Turton and Edgworth, which closed in 1961, is on the Manchester to Clitheroe line.

In recent years the parish has organised public meetings to discuss the reopening of the station, which council vice-chairman Stephen Simpson said had the “overwhelming backing” of residents.

He added: “We are totally fed up. We were never consulted on this and it came as a complete shock.”