Campaigners have hit their target of 5,000 signatures for a petition to try to save Shropshire’s direct rail-link to London.

Running on the Petition Buzz website, the petition – aimed at getting the service back into operation – was launched in the wake of the shock announcement last week that the Wrexham & Shropshire rail link was closing after the service had lost nearly £3 million in the last year alone.

This morning, the petition had 5,593 signatures.

Today, Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski said he was prepared to present the petition in Parliament once its organiser, Alex Matthews contacted him.

County MPs and officials at Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin councils are continuing their fight to save the link, with hopes it could be included in the West Coast Mainline franchise when it is re-tendered.

The service came to an end on Friday, less than three years after it was launched in the county.

Meanwhile, Telford MP David Wright today said all of Shropshire’s MPs and the MP for Wrexham had agreed to attend a meeting with Transport Minister Theresa Villiers if it could be arranged.

He added: “The key thing is to focus on securing a direct service. It may be that we can resurrect an open access services. More likely we’re going to have to talk to one of the big franchise players.”

Two Welsh AMs have questioned why Assembly rail subsidy funding could not be used to save the Wrexham & Shropshire service.

Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for North Wales Eleanor Burnham said it was “ludicrous” that some of the subsidy paid to Arriva Trains Wales could not have been used for Wrexham & Shropshire’s link.

And AM Mark Isherwood has posed an emergency question to Welsh Transport Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones.

Mr Isherwood asked the minister if there was any way he could drive a renegotiation of franchise and open-access arrangements.

Mr Wyn Jones said the service was outside “existing franchise agreements”.

He said: “The company operated it without a subsidy and was therefore subject to commercial risk in doing so. If another company comes forward with a proposal, then we would be in a similar position in relation to subsidy.”

By John Kirk