A BUSINESSMAN who campaigned to save an historical railway station says he is devastated to see it being pulled down.

Nigel Richardson, a former councillor and mayor of Kirkbymoorside, had considered selling his own house to save the town’s station, which closed in the 1960s. “I’ve lived in the town all my life and this is part of my history. I feel betrayed and devastated that the station is being pulled down,” he said.

“Helmsley still has a station house, as does Nawton and Sinnington, and Pickering has a working station, so why does Kirkbymoorside have to suffer?”

Mr Richardson said he had tried for several years to save the station after it was sold to Russells, the agricultural engineers.

The company has since moved to a site near Eden Camp, Old Malton.

“I wrote to English Heritage to try to get the station listed, but was told that there were too many similar buildings in the area,” he added.

“I then looked at selling my own house and buying the station but to buy the site was going to cost at least £1.5million, which was way above what I could afford.”

Mr Richardson, who runs a private hire company, said he felt he had let Kirkbymoorside down.

He said: “I just feel I didn’t fight hard enough for the town and to see the station being dismantled is like the final nail in the coffin – I feel like leaving Kirkbymoorside altogether. I was born and bred in this town and remember watching the trains when I was going to school. I’m not a railway buff, just a local person who feels our local history is being destroyed.”

A spokesperson for Ryedale District Council said planning permission had been granted for 46 new homes on the site. “Two years ago, English Heritage was contacted to determine whether the station should be listed but it was not considered characterful enough. Demolition work has therefore started on the site, which has planning permission for a residential scheme,” they said.