Repair work has begun at a miniature railway in Bolton which was targeted by vandals earlier this month.

Volunteers at the site on Moss Bank Park had worked throughout lockdown to bring the facility back to life.

And after attracting hundreds of people there at weekends, they found it had been vandalised.

A total of £20,000 of damage was caused and of the mile long miniature railway there was just 20 feet left.

The group are understood to have been around ten in number and a crow bar, believed to have been used to inflict the damage, was recovered at the scene.

The vandals also damaged the shutter door of the storage spot of the building on the site.

But now the group of 15 volunteers at the Moss Bank Model Park Engineering Society have taken the first steps on the road to recovery.

In the aftermath of the vandalism they vowed to return and open their doors once again to visitors.

The group have received an insurance payout and have collected £1,830 in donations.

They have also installed CCTV at the facility and begun work to repair the railway track.

Tracey Stirling, the secretary the group, welcomed the support which they had received.

She said: “We have been astonished by all the officers of help, donations and kind words.

“The people of Bolton want to see us back up and running.

“As a group we are determined to be back up and running.”

Police confirmed there were no updates in relation to the vandalism which took place on June 3.

Anyone with information about the incident is urged to contact them on 101.

The incident took place just eight weeks after the property had reopened its doors.

Work to restore the site had begun in December 2019.