THE Guardian has contacted Sir Richard Branson - in a bid to highlight our campaign to save threatened commuter services at Hartford Station.

Virgin Trains is planning to cut four daily services to London Euston when its new timetable comes in this May.

But the idea has shocked passengers who use the rail link and the Guardian has launched a petition to keep the services on track.

In a letter to the famous Virgin boss Guardian reporter Glyn Hellam said the station is a vital Inter City mainline service for the whole Northwich and Vale Royal area.

As we went to press yesterday, Tuesday, Sir Richard's press spokesman said the Virgin boss was "aware of the situation."

A formal response from Virgin Trains is expected for next week's edition.

Meanwhile our petition is gathering pace - with over 1,000 people signing up so far.

To keep up with requests, we have now placed petitions in other areas, as well as Hartford.