BALA Lake Railway (BLR) officials are hoping to raise the final £50,000 it requires to carry out additional work on its flood defences by the end of this month.

The sum, the final amount needed of the £276,00 required by Natural Resources Wales, will help the railway to carry out the additional civil engineering works it needs to complete in order to enable the construction of the trackbed for its extension.

Plans for the extension were first revealed in the Denbighshire Free Press in October 2019, when the BLR purchased a piece of land from Bala Rugby Club for an undisclosed fee.

The existing route of the Railway runs for 4½ miles from Llanuwchllyn to Pen-y-Bont station. The additional project, worth an estimated £2.5m, will see a further 3/4 mile of railway laid to take the route across the River Dee and into Bala town itself.

Once the £50,000 is raised, nearly a third of the total extension complete.

BLR officials say it is critical that this is done as part of the Natural Resources Wales £6.5M flood defence upgrade scheme.

They added that, if this does not take place, the railway will face significant costs going forward putting the whole extension project at risk.

Trust Chairman Julian Birley, who believes the project can bring a further 60,000 tourists into the town annually once completed, commented: "It is absolutely crucial we do not miss this opportunity for Natural Resources Wales to do this work for us. Once done, it is done forever. Any donation, no matter how small or large, is most welcome.

"We therefore need to urgently raise £50,000 by the end of February 2021. If you want to see the Bala Lake Railway extended into Bala please support us."

Residents are being informed that there are many ways in which they can donate to the BLR's latest project.

They can donate online via PayPal or by sending a cheque to: Bala Lake Railway Trust c/o The Station, Llanuwchllyn, Bala, Gwynedd LL23 7DD.

The Railway itself is now hoping to re-open to visitors in late March, if Covid-19 guidelines permit, after it could not do so for February half term.

For further information on planned events for 2021 at Bala Lake Railway, go to: bala-lake-railway.co.uk/