A RUN-DOWN Burnley railway station will not be renovated for at least two years, it has emerged.

A county transport boss has said work on the town’s Manchester Road station cannot begin until 2011 at the earliest because of a cash shortage.

The admission is a blow to rail campaigners who want a modernised station to act as a gateway on a direct link from Burnley to Manchester.

Richard Watts, Lancashire County Council’s rail projects manager, said: “Manchester Road is a priority for Burnley Council because it wants it as the main station on the Burnley to Manchester line.

“However, we are a couple of years or more away from improving Manchester Road.”

As part of a £2.5million initiative, transport chiefs last year planned improvements to the station. They included “substantial” car parking, new buildings on the platforms and a manned ticket office.

The European Commission and North West Development Agency were expected to bankroll the scheme - but only if Lancashire County Council also paid for it.

Campaigners hope the Todmorden Curve, a disused stretch of track which could link Burnley directly to Manchester via the station, will be ‘reinstated’ in the next five years, offering the town huge economic benefits.

Meanwhile, Mr Watts has also closed the door on plans to renovate Burnley Central station - despite the new £80million University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) campus opening in nearby Princess Way.

He said: “The county council currently has no funding that could support anything at Burnley Central station at the moment because we have got other priorities.

“However, ideally I would like to do something with the station because it is an eyesore.”

UCLan said the university has no plans to fund improvements to Burnley Central station.

A Network Rail spokesman said there are no “imminent” plans to refurbish any of Burnley’s Manchester Road, Central or Barracks station.