PUPILS from a Poole school in wheelchairs are battling to be able to use their local rail station.

Branksome’s Victorian station has a heavy door and “death trap” steep stairs, and youngsters from Victoria Education centre, 80 per cent of whom are confined to wheelchairs, are campaigning for access.

“We can’t get onto the train at Branksome,” said pupil Charlie Williams, 17.

Harry Bassett, 16, said: “It would be great to have either a ramp or lift put in to make things much easier.

“To get on a train for school trips we have to go to Bournemouth station, which is a lot further away.”

Lack of access was the main issue raised by pupils of Victoria School in Lindsay Road when local councillor Phil Eades visited the sixth formers to speak about politics and the forthcoming election.

“This station was built in 1870,” said Cllr Eades, who is standing for the Liberal Democrats in Poole in May’s parliamentary elections.

“It’s a public building and everybody should have access to it.

“It’s a basic right of all our citizens to be able to access public transport.”

However the old building is exempt from the Disability Discrimination Act and the only way to get it upgraded is to apply for funding from the government’s Access for All programme, which they intend to do.

With a heavy door and lip to negotiate to get into the station, which ironically has disabled parking outside, they are then faced by an insurmountably steep flight of stairs to get to the platform of the main line station.

“There would need to be two lifts, one for each platform, which would be heavy on funding,” said Harry. “Ramps wouldn’t be nearly as expensive.”

Their teacher Hilary Stewart, who teaches life skills, described the stairs as a “death trap” and said it was extraordinary there was no provision for pushchairs or wheelchairs.

She said their whole ethos was to make the students ready for the world and as independent as possible.

“It’s a shame this particular facility isn’t available to our students.

“It would make a vast difference in so many ways.”