Llangollen heritage railway operator goes into receivership

Steam trains, such as this one, ran on the Llangollen Railway

The company which runs a heritage railway in Denbighshire has gone into receivership.

Llangollen Railway PLC said it could not "legally continue to trade", with the company insolvent to the extent of about £350,000.

More than £250,000 of that amount relates to "a significant number of engineering contract disputes".

Work to restore the 10 mile (16km) line between Llangollen and Corwen was completed in 2019 after a 45-year-wait.

The company said tickets will be refunded, but some may be possible to use in the future.

• Steam railways in 'precarious' situation

• Crank it up! Steam lover's epic railway challenge

In a statement, Llangollen Railway PLC said: "The directors would like to acknowledge the considerable support of the Welsh Government through two significant grants, and NatWest Bank which, together with furlough payments, have enabled the company to continue to meet its commitments over recent months until now."

It added the engineering contract disputes arose before the current board took over in October 2020 and there was "no prospect" of meeting the liabilities.

The company said it intended to restart operations "in due course", depending on legal and regulatory approvals, but warned this would "take time".

Work on constructing the line was completed in December 2019

It added: "It is hoped to rehire many of our staff and employees and that it will be possible to maintain connections with many longstanding friends.

"Customers who have purchased tickets in advance, including driver experiences, deposits for weddings and gift vouchers, will either be refunded (the monies have been reserved) or will hopefully be able to travel at a future date."