Lymington’s Bottom of Town Group gathers signatures against Railway Delivery Group plans to close town ticket office and slash staffing hours

Campaigners have hit the streets gathering support against plans to close the Lymington railway station ticket office.

Protest organiser Jon Ellis, chair of Lymington’s Bottom of Town group, said supporters gathered around 180 signatures in a few hours over the weekend “despite periods of heavy rain”.

As reported in the A&T, the Railway Delivery Group (RDG) plans to close hundreds of rail ticket offices nationwide, including at Brockenhurst, Christchurch, Hinton Admiral, Lymington Town, New Milton, Sway and Totton.

A consultation into the proposal has been extended until 1st September.

Mr Ellis said: “It felt like roughly half the people we spoke to were greatly interested and showed strong support for us.

“We spoke to visitors from all over the country who are seeing the same thing happen in their local rail stations.”

The Bottom of Town group recently held a protest at the railway station to oppose the plans, which see staffing hours slashed from 44 a week to just 20.

Mr Ellis told the A&T: “I haven’t heard of any other protesters doing anything similar to us in Brockenhurst, New Milton or Christchurch stations, which is somewhat surprising.

“But Lymington’s Bottom of Town Group members braved showery and windy weather on Quay Hill over the weekend, seeking support for a letter writing campaign to keep open Lymington Town station’s ticket office and maintain the hours of staffing at the station.”

The group asked the public, locals and visitors to fill in their details on letters to the Secretary of State for Transport Mark Harper. The letters will be sent on to Mr Harper via local MPs.

Mr Ellis added: “There was found to be much support for the campaign among the public, with one letter being completed every 30 seconds and a queue forming.

“Visitors to the town spoke of similar campaigns in other parts of England, and of how they often depend on ticket staff to help them plan their trips and buy the best value tickets.”

Mr Ellis said that, weather permitting, campaigners will be back on Quay Hill gathering more letter signatures over the next two Saturdays 12th and 19th August.

Those who would like a digital copy of the petition letter should email bottomoftownlym@gmail.com