INDEPENDENT MP Martin Bell always attributed the Tatton Tories' success to its women.

They were, he said, the people who got things done.

Now company director John Hulme wants to use girl power to tidy up Knutsford train station after it failed to be nominated in the best-kept station competition.

"If the station had the support of folk like the ladies of the Women's Institute who keep tiny Acton Bridge station spick-and-span then they would have a station to be very proud of," he said.

Mr Hulme, a railway enthusiast whose Plumley-based company JDP Group organised the competition, said no one thought Knutsford was good enough to win.

The station has been regularly vandalised by yobs who have smashed windows and sprayed graffiti.

Three years ago a rare signal box was destroyed by fire shortly before it was due to be renovated. "These busy town centre stations, like Knutsford, need to convince the people in the communities they serve that they need help if they are to return to their former glory," he said.

"The rail companies have got other priorities and I think we would all prefer they spent money on safety rather than making our stations look pretty."

But it wasn't always like this.

Seventy years ago Knutsford was named the most attractive station in Cheshire, with its flowerbeds and neatly mown lawn.

This time, though, Plumley and Mobberley are in line for the top spot.

"The aim of the competition was to encourage partnership between the community and their stations," said Mr Hulme.

"After all our stations are often the local gateway and the first place a visitor sees."