THE popular East Lancashire Railway is back on track once more after being hit by floods and badly damaged earlier this year.

Since the busy Bury to Rawtenstall tourist line was hit by the bad weather the East Lancashire Railway has only been able to run as far as Irwell Vale.

But after engineers pulled out all the stops and repaired the damaged central pier at the Lower Ashenbottom Bridge trains can now get through.

The bridge, which crosses the River Irwell, was damaged when flash floods brought down a tree which caused a current to remove stones in the foundation of the bridge rendering it unsafe for the trains to cross.

Chairman of the East Lancashire Railway, Peter Duncan, said: "This is great news for the railway and came just at the right time. Thanks go to the engineers and all those who helped get the service back on track for the Rossendale community. It's now business as usual for the railway."

Leader of Bury Metro Council, Councillor John Byrne whose engineers completed the repairs, added: "When the bridge was damaged there was talk of the railway having to run a limited service for 18 months. That would have been totally unacceptable and I can't sing the praises of our engineers enough.

"The fact that the line is now fully open is a great Christmas present, not just for those involved in the running of the railway, but for the thousands of visitors who can now come and take a train ride over the festive season."