An ambitious project to breathe new life into a small town railway station is now "becoming a reality".

The Tyne Valley Community Rail Partnership is steaming ahead with its redevelopment of the disused waiting rooms at Haltwhistle Station.

Half of each waiting room building at the Northumberland train station has been boarded up for many years, and have been described as "uninviting and unloved" in their present form.

The rail partnership, which seeks to promote and protect the Tyne Valley railway line between Newcastle and Carlisle, is now seeking to resurrect the buildings for the purpose of housing a small or start-up business.

After plenty of groundwork liaising with rail industry partners, a start has now been made on the works.

Company secretary and projects director for the Tyne Valley Community Rail Partnership, Julie Gibbon, has been credited as being "instrumental" in getting the project off the ground.

“It is very exciting to see this project starting and becoming a reality," she said.

The total value of the project, which has been more than two years in the making, comes to £500,000.

Julie has worked with a number of organisations to secure grant funding to cover the costs of the project.

Her dedication to the work of the rail partnership was marked last year when she was given the national "outstanding voluntary contribution" award at last year's Community Rail Awards.

The renovation works are anticipated to take 16 weeks in total, and are being done in two phases - 11 weeks to renovate the building on platform one, and a further five weeks to complete the renovation on platform two.

A spokesman for the rail partnership added that the group is "very grateful to all the funders and to the many professionals who have helped us to reach this stage".

"There has been interest in the project since it was first mooted in 2018.

"Once the renovation is completed and can be viewed it is anticipated there will be plenty of interest in securing the space."

The project has been funded by Network Rail, National Station Improvement Programme, Arriva Rail North’s Social Stations Fund and Seedcorn Fund, the Railway Heritage Trust, Community Rail Network (formally ACoRP), Avanti West Coast, TransPennine Express, CrossCountry Trains and TVCRP.

Anyone interested in renting a studio at the station once the works are complete should email Julie Gibbon at secretary@tvcrp.org.uk.