Bid for disabled ramp at Nailsea and Backwell station goes off the rails

FUNDING for a new ramp at Nailsea and Backwell railway station has been withdrawn, leaving wheelchair users unable to access the platforms.

Members of disability campaign groups were left disappointed by the announcement.

First Great Western (FGW) was given £1.23m to build two ramps in 2011, but building work never started.

Plans for the ramps have now been withdrawn after a series of delays and a missed deadline.

FGW was given money to fix the problem by the Department for Transport (DfT), as part of their Access For All scheme, but it had to be used by March 2014.

The money has now been distributed elsewhere.

A spokesperson for First Great Western said in November last year that the embankments needed shoring up before the ramps could be built, but this could not be done while North Somerset Council was carrying out work to extend the car park.

Any more contractors on site would mean nobody would be able to access the station.

David Redgewell, a campaigner for disabled people and a wheelchair user from Bristol, said: "I feel this ramp has been stolen from us by the government. This is not just FGW's fault. The Department for Transport withdrew that money without consulting any public bodies in the area. £1 million was put aside, and we have lost that now.

"FGW couldn't do the work last year, but no one was asked about it before the money went. As a wheelchair user, I can get a train at Keynsham or Clifton Down, but I can't get off it at Nailsea.

"Disabled people have the same rights as everyone else."

The platforms can be accessed via steps, or an old ramp that is too steep for wheelchairs.

Dan Panes, from FGW, said a fresh bid for money had failed.

He said: "We were pretty sure it would happen. But there were other schemes that got the nod before this one. Other work came up around the station that meant we couldn't do the work. We had no option but to postpone it."

Mr Panes said FGW was looking to secure funding from another source.