EAST Lancashire Railway is appealing to the public to help secure funding of £10,000 to get its canopy project back on track.

Bosses have joined the Aviva Community Fund initiative in a bid to win the money and need members of the public to register and provide up to 10 free votes before the May 30 deadline.

Cash is being raised for a centrepiece £100,000 canopy over platform two at the Bolton Street station.

But last month, staff and volunteers at East Lancashire Railway (ELR) were left devastated after £18,000 of donations were given to a glass firm, a day before it went into administration.

They handed the sum to a supplier to pay for the glazed roof, but ELR officials said they only discovered that Paperlinx UK had gone into administration from an answering machine message.

Administrators Delloitte told ELR the glazed roof, due to be sourced from Holland, had not yet been ordered and so the order would be cancelled.

And they said the £18,000 cannot 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.

Kate Walker, ELR marketing manager, said: "Indications are that we will not see either the glazing delivered or our money returned. We have joined the Aviva Community Fund initiative, a campaign that intends to secure funding for causes vital to the growth and maintenance of local communities throughout the UK.

"In our case, this would mean an extra £10,000 of funding to put towards our canopy project. To win the bid, the East Lancashire Railway needs as many free votes as possible."

Members of the public are being asked to visit its "Raising for Glazing" Aviva project page, register and vote for the ELR. People can vote up to 10 times. The more votes received, the more likely ELR is to receive the funding.

The projects with the most votes will reach the finals, where a panel of judges will decide which will be awarded the funding.

To support the ELR go here.