WEST Somerset Railway is reported to be facing significant financial concerns, recording a huge trading deficit in the last year.

It has been reported figures contained in its delayed annual report and accounts show the 22-mile railway has been losing more than £12,000 a week over the 15 months until March this year.

And auditors have reportedly warned the £807,909 accumulated loss must place a question mark over the railway’s future as ‘a going concern’.

But the chairman of the railway says he is confident it is a 'sustainable, viable business'.

The West Somerset Railway runs trains between Minehead and Bishop’s Lydeard on England’s longest heritage line.

There has been pressure on the railway to publish the reports and reveal its financial status, and the report is due to be presented at the annual meeting on December 14.

In March the company was hit with another issue when the Government’s transport safety watchdog, the Office of Rail and Road, insisted on a large number of safety improvements being carried out.

Many of these relate to replacing miles of time-expired track - some of the rails on the line are nearly a century old – which is again likely to come at significant cost.

West Somerset Railway PLC chairman Jonathan Jones-Pratt told the BBC: “We’ve got a good railway. We are rebuilding the cash reserves and we’re able to demonstrate, through our profit and loss accounts and through our management accounts that we produce monthly, that we have a sustainable, viable business.”

Great Western Railway ran a trial shuttle service this summer to see if it would be viable to run a train from Taunton to Bishops Lydeard for passengers to then use the West Somerset Railway, in the hope of boosting tourism.

West Somerset Railway has also introduced a new festive element to their Christmas programme of events for 2019.

The railway has enhanced its successful Santa Special services with some new added attractions for visitors.

Aptly named ‘Santa’s Winter Wonderland’, the event will take WSR passengers from Bishops Lydeard through the countryside to a specially-dressed Crowcombe Station, which will be dubbed ‘Snowcombe Station’ for the occasion.

The station will be decorated to fit the magical Christmas theme of the event, with Santa’s Grotto, animatronic reindeer and a large sleigh too.

Starting at the end of November and carrying on to Christmas Eve, it is hoped this event will enhance the festive offering and earn revenue to jump start the WSR’s 2020 season and maintenance programme.