THE chairman and two vice-chairmen of the West Somerset Railway Association have quit their posts - and the entire board of trustees will retire at the next AGM.

Frank Courtney, a railway volunteer since 1986, has taken over as acting chairman on the resignation of Peter Chedzey and his vice-chairmen Ian Aldridge and David Williams.

They will stay on as association trustees but only until the next AGM in July when all the trustees will stand down.

The mass resignations follow an independent review panel report on the troubled association which was published in December and called for a complete change of leadership.

Set up to probe the feuding organisation and its fall-out with West Somerset Railway plc, the review panel, headed by Robin Coombes, warned that without fundamental change and reform the association could cease to exist.

“The alternative is a continuation of the strife that has bedevilled and will further damage the association,” it said.

The association will be issuing an overview paper in the next few weeks, followed by a members’ consultation meeting in February. Development, business and fundraising plans will be discussed at the July AGM.