A GREEN-fingered entrepeneur is planting the seeds of a new business - in a disused railway ticket office.

For Keith Upton and his wife Linda, it was a dream come true when town hall bosses approved his plan to convert a derelict ticket office at Padgate Station into a gardening shop.

Keith believes the office, which has lain empty for five years, is just the ticket to keep business blooming.

A lot of work is needed on the site, and the couple had to seek permission from rail bosses as well as planning officers.

But Keith, of Carpenter Grove, Padgate, says his plan is far from loco.

Said Keith: "It's been our ambition for years to live in a railway station, and this is the next best thing. I couldn't tell you why, but everybody has a dream and this is ours.

"We were absolutely over the moon when we got the go-ahead. There's plenty of room, and we're ideally located opposite a doctor's surgery and a post office.

"I don't know how busy the station is these days, but I think we'll attract plenty of custom. We're planning to sell all sorts of gardening sundries, from flowers to bird baths," he said.

Keith, has a proven track record in the gardening business. He was a landscaper for 17 years until arthritis forced him to concentrate on his garden retail shop in Birchwood.

Keith hopes the new-look ticket office will be ready to open next month.

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