A shortage of signal operators is threatening to derail a private railway's attempts to expand its services for tourists.

The North Yorkshire Moors Railway is desperately short of volunteers and trained signal operators to staff boxes at its four stations in particular short supply.

And if enough new recruits are not forthcoming, the Grosmont to Pickering railway may have to fork out for professional staff, with a knock-on effect on other services.

Marketing manager Christine Hudson said: "There has been a marked decrease in volunteers recently - maybe people haven't got the same amount of time that they used to have, and we're not in an easy to get to place.

"We have a vast shortage of signalmen, and although we have people who come in at weekends, it is during the week that we really have a problem. That is something we desperately need to address."

She said the shortage of signal operators hampered the railway's attempts to run evening buffet services, as well as daytime trips, with a limit on the number of hours volunteers were permitted to work in any one day.

Volunteers may need to spend a year getting the hang of one signal-box, although the other boxes will then be easier to operate before they can take the responsibility on their own.

She said: "We need to have more volunteers, and if we don't we will have to look for paid staff but we can't afford to take on a lot of paid workers.

"And they might not be used to the old-fashioned signalling because they are all hand-pulled levers and you have to be quite fit to operate them." She said they were also particularly keen to recruit volunteer guards, who take responsibility for the train when it is travelling and stationary.

The railway has 55 paid staff and about 250 volunteers involved in everything from working in the shops to driving the trains.

Anyone who is interested in helping the moors railway should telephone 01751 472508.

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