STUNNED Poole Park visitors say they are “astonished” council officials have failed to secure the safe running of the popular miniature railway.

Borough of Poole (BOP) confirmed the railway, which normally attracts thousands of visitors each summer, will not be up-and-running before the end of the year.

Exactly when it will roll again depends of what councillors decide later this summer.

Council bosses terminated their contract with the Friends of Poole Park (FoPP) last month, after the charity was put on notice in May following derailments and a mass walkout of volunteers and staff.

FoPP won the tender to operate the mini railway in 2017 when borough chiefs selected the community group over previous operator Chris Bullen, who had run the attraction for more than a decade.

However, FoPP infighting and health and safety concerns appear to have brought the group’s involvement, at least in its current make-up, to an end.

Now, council officials are setting their sights firmly on 2019.

Meanwhile, park visitor and mum-of-two Lesley Stuart said: “It is quite astonishing this has not been sorted out, it is not as though this is a mainline railway.

“It is a children’s attraction for goodness sake.

“I suppose we cannot completely lay the blame at the door of the council, as another organisation was meant to be running it, but it was the council who picked that organisation in the first place.”

Park user, Timothy Matheson, told the Echo: “What amazes me is that Borough of Poole seems to have picked people to run it who had no real experience.

“Now it feels like a bit of a calamity.”

Another resident said: “ The people who are really losing out over this are the children.”

BOP recreation manager Anthony Rodgers said the council has been carefully considering all options.

He added: “We’ve been liaising with a range of organisations and volunteers about the future operation of the railway. However, we’ve not approached the National Lottery to use any of the £2.8m Heritage Lottery funding for the Poole Park Life project to relay the railway track or invest in train or carriage stock.”

“This funding was awarded based on a costed bid submission and will only be used to support those improvement projects outlined in the bid.

“We are continuing to prepare a business case outlining the options for keeping this much-loved attraction in Poole Park and this will be considered by members later this summer.”