A community group will launch an appeal to raise £200,000 to preserve Grade Two Listed buildings at Gobowen Railway Station.

The Gobowen Area Improvement Group (GAIP) entered the buildings on the north-bound platform for the first time in more than a decade last week and are already seeking tradespeople to help bring them back to life.

It is hoped they – and the ticket office on the south-bound side – can be used to boost tourism in the region by bringing the station and the track towards Oswestry back to its former glory.

Sheila Dee, from GAIP, said: “There’s not a huge amount of work to do.

“There are some damp and water ingress issues, particularly in the tower, and work on that is going to start shortly.

“We have a list of requests, such as donations of paint and offers from tradespeople.”

The buildings were bought as part of a Community Right to Bid application through Selattyn and Gobowen Parish Council, which saw the former owners give the community six months to raise the funds to buy it.

It was supported with a grant and a loan totalling £110,000 from the Three Parishes Big Local, with support from the Oswestry Station Building Trust Ltd.

Anyone who would like to donate their time to the project should send an email to gaipgroup@gmail.com