FAMILIES who have enjoyed taking a festive trip to the Brokerswood miniature railway at Christmas could see the much-loved attraction relocated thanks to the work of one councillor.

The country park was granted permission in August to be turned into a luxury holiday destination, complete with 90 wooden holiday lodges, 20 touring pitches and 10 camping pods.

As a result, Windsor-based holiday company Haulfryn, who submitted the application, have said the miniature railway will be lost.

Now, Trowbridge councillor Chris Auckland has launched a bid to try and keep the much-loved feature in west Wiltshire after engaging in talks with the team at Brokerswood.

“A small group of individuals have been working hard to secure the future of this small piece of Brokerswood,” he added.

“The railway there has carried thousands of Wiltshire’s young people, and while I acknowledge that Haulfryn are free to do what they like with the railway once they take ownership of it, I feel it is a travesty that not only will the railway be no longer open to day visitors, but that it is being taken out of the county completely.”

It is believed that Haulfryn, the company due to shortly buy the former country park, intends to remove the railway and relocate it to one of its sites in Devon but the company was unable to confirm this before the Wiltshire Times went to press.

Since opening in 1968, Brokerswood has been a popular attraction for families and campers with an outdoor pursuit area, cafe and play trail, but earlier this year the park’s owners declared that they planned to bring it to an end to preserve the land, as they feared that 50,000 annual visitors were beginning to take their toll.

Cllr Auckland, who is a keen railway enthusiast, added: “If successful, the railway would be relocated to a new site in West Wiltshire, opened to the public, and used to support local charities working with children and adults with learning difficulties and additional needs. We had planned to operate it as a community interest company, meaning it could only ever be used for this purpose in the future. Though this is a major set-back, we’re still hoping to carry this project forward in some shape.”