RAILWAY enthusiasts have been thrown off track after they gave £18,000 of donations to a glass firm — a day before it went into administration.

East Lancashire Railway (ELR) staff and volunteers have been raising cash to pay for a centrepiece £100,000 canopy over platform 2 at the Bolton Street station since 2012.

They handed over one-fifth of the funds to a supplier to pay for the glazed roof, 24 hours before administrators were called in.

Devastated ELR workers said they only discovered that Paperlinx UK had gone into administration from an answering machine message.

Deloitte director Matt Baker wrote to ELR yesterday to say the glazed roof, due to be sourced from Holland, had not yet been ordered and so the order will be cancelled.

An apologetic Mr Baker added that the £18,000 could not be immediately returned to ELR because it was paid before administration began and a legal process which prioritises creditors will dictate whether the money is returned or not.

A Deloitte spokesman told The Bury Times that administrators were looking into the payment.

The Victorian canopy was due to be completed by July, but bosses of the registered charity said things are now up in the air and they want supporters to donate funds towards it via eastlancsrailway.org.uk

In apparent protest, ELR has covered the canopy in a temporary banner that reads 'What, no glazing? Thank you, Paperlinx.'

Paperlinx UK has not made any comment on the situation.

ELR's general manager Andy Morris said: "We have used this company twice previously and trusted them.

“We did the bank transfer one afternoon at 1.30pm. When I rang the next day to check everything was fine, the line rang out.

"When I tried again, I got an answering machine message saying the firm was in administration.

"I felt physically sick and was trembling.

"The vast majority of the money for this project has come from fundraising efforts, bequests and donations.

"It is incomprehensible that that money could disappear into thin air.

"Many volunteers have put their heart and soul into the ELR and it is such a shame for them."

Platform 2 has been without a roof since the 1970s and heritage railway enthusiasts wanted to build a canopy to keep people sheltered from the rain.

An ELR spokesman added: "This has struck a huge blow to the ELR's ambitions to restore the station to its former glory.

"The project is now in serious jeopardy."

Mr Morris added: "We're absolutely devastated by what’s happened and we're still struggling to come to terms with what this will ultimately mean for the future of the canopy project.

"We shall be taking legal advice about what rights we have in circumstances such as this but at the moment it doesn't look very encouraging.

"We also need to see what options are open to us in terms of keeping the project on-track and for completion by mid-July, as raising a similar amount of cash to that we’ve already paid out is going to be a tall order.

"However, one thing is for sure, our volunteer workforce will do everything within their power to ensure the job gets done."

Fundraising for the project has been partly through the annual Raise the Roof music festival at the station, which will take place on July 17 and 18.

Joint administrator of Paperlinx UK, Matt Smith, of Deloitte, said: "We are investigating how best to maximise value in the businesses for the benefit of its creditors.

"The joint administrators are seeking to continue to trade the businesses on a limited basis to secure the best value available from current stock holdings and other assets.

"The businesses will continue to actively trade from five sites, including the Northampton head office, but on a more limited basis than previously.

"During this period we will also be attempting to find a purchaser for all or parts of the businesses."