Campaigners trying to fight off a threat to Southport's direct rail service to Manchester Piccadilly have warned that local opposition must act quickly to make itself heard before time runs out.

A controversial consultation overseen by the Department for Transport (DfT) is due to close on March 10th and local residents and commuters are being advised to respond to it swiftly and also sign an online petition telling the DfT "Hands Off" the route.

Asking people to reply "No Change" to the consultation document, critics say it is deeply-flawed and a "stacked deck" against Southport as all of the three options offered actually result in removing the town's direct service to the south of Manchester.

They point out that just a few years ago the DfT tried to remove the service by misleading local residents and was finally defeated in a hard-fought campaign but is now back once again with less than transparent methods.

Councillor Greg Myers, co-organiser of the online petition, says support is growing as the news spreads but residents and commuters need to realise time is running out:

"Our "Hands off" message to the DfT is gaining significant local support, with nearly 600 signatures, so far. It's also now been backed by a wide array of local interests."

"The likes of local passenger association OPSTA, local business leaders like Norman Wallis, Sefton Council's Leader, Deputy and multiple councillors are fully behind it and there's also strong support within the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, which we expect will recommend rejection of all three options this week."

"But there are less than two weeks to go before this bogus consultation is finished - so, we need everyone to sign and share our petition message and respond 'No Change' to this stacked deck consultation. Let's make clear to the government that this threat to our town just isn't acceptable."

Councillor Gordon Friel, who is Sefton's transport representative on the Combined Authority and a long-time campaigner to save the service, added:

"We've asked for a united front on this across any notional political divides as it's vital that as many local leaders and residents as possible join us. We'd also like to those who have stepped forward already."

"The DfT has to look again at how it has framed the consultation in this biased way and stop trying it on. Southport proved the value of this service very recently, it's ridiculous it has to go through this again."

The petition can be signed and shared from here: https://www.change.org/HandsOffSouth...sterPiccadilly

State "No Change" via this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consul...rth-of-england