A HERITAGE steam railway based in the Cotswolds has passed the £1 million milestone in its bid to finance a new extension.

The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway's Broadway: The Last Mile’ share offer now has less that £250,000 to raise before the end of April, when the offer must close.

Finance director Chris Bristow said: “This is such an important milestone and of huge encouragement to the many volunteers involved with building Broadway station and extending the line northwards to this delightful Cotswold town.

“The rate that money has been coming in means that we can, with confidence, say the extension will open to the public on March 30, 2018. I'm deeply grateful to the many hundreds of people who have invested sums large and small, and from all walks of life.

“Already the track, using new rail from British Steel at Scunthorpe, has crossed the county boundary into Worcestershire and is within sight of the station. When finished, it will give us a railway offering a 30-mile round trip between Cheltenham and Broadway.

“But in many ways the last quarter-mile will be the most challenging. The line will run over a short stretch of high embankment which through decades of lack of maintenance and poor drainage has become unstable and needs strengthening.

"We will be starting work on this soon but it will cost a significant five-figure sum: when done it will secure the line for generations to come. That’s why we must reach the full £1.25 million we’re seeking in this offer.”

The railway's newest shareholder Philip Bowden, whose application took the appeal past the £1 million mark, said: “The organisation of the railway and all it entails is exceptional. I am delighted to be able to contribute towards the ambitious and exciting extension to Broadway with all the benefits it will bring. I'm very pleased that the fund-raising is being so successful.”

Work on the extension from the railhead at Laverton has involved refurbishing five bridges as well as repairing culverts, putting in new drainage and remedying slipped earthworks in some places.