NEW attempts to have New Milton's "scruffy" railway station smartened up are being made by councillors.

Members of New Milton Town Council's amenities committee decided to write to South West Trains advising them of their concerns about the scruffy appearance of the station.

The station is in the centre of the town and committee chairman John Hutchins said: "As a town council, we have been complaining for the last three or four years about the condition of New Milton Station and the rubbish there and the way it has been neglected.

"The railways people made a rather poor effort to tidy it up, but it seems that it is being allowed to get worse. We have had members of the public turning up at council meetings and complaining about it, but there doesn't seem to be any really effort."

He added: "Promises were made several years ago that it was going to be extended and painted but it just hasn't happened."

The committee was reminded that a letter had been received from Network Rail in April informing the council that vegetation on the railway bridge has been cut back in January.

But committee members pointed out that this had grown again and they also complained about litter and the general untidiness of the station.

A letter from South West Trains to New Milton Chamber of Commerce was also read to the committee. It pointed out that the railway line was litter-picked and that rubbish under Station Road bridge had been removed by Network Rail at the beginning of April. It added that other rubbish would be cleared in the near future.