I’m glad that after the Government initially attempted to rush through a consultation on ticket office closures in 21 days, the deadline for responses has now been extended to Friday 1 September.

Under the proposed closures, we are set to lose the ticket office at Parbold station, with passengers expected to seek out staff at the station in two-hour windows each weekday should they require assistance.

This is completely unacceptable and will have a significant impact on passenger safety as well as accessibility of train travel for some elderly passengers and passengers with disabilities.

I am completely opposed to this proposed closure and encourage as many local residents as possible to make a submission to the consultation before the deadline at 11:59p.m. on Friday 1 September.

If you wish to submit a response, you will need to send them to Transport Focus, the independent transport watchdog. You can do so via the details below.

Email: ticketoffice.northern@transportfocus.org.uk