THE immediate mass resignation of the entire board of trustees of the troubled West Somerset Railway Association was called for by an independent review panel this week.

It warned that without drastic change and reform, the association could cease to exist.

And should the trustees not go voluntarily, the panel recommended that the membership force them out.

Set up six months ago at a general meeting of the association to probe the feuding organisation and its fall-out with West Somerset Railway plc, the review panel believes that the association could prove to be unsustainable without massive reorganisation and a complete change of leadership.

Writing to the association’s chairman Peter Chidzey, review panel chairman Robin Coombes warned that the panel’s report “will not make pleasant reading as we find there were significant weaknesses and areas of serious concern”.

He advised that the current trustees should “step down with a degree of dignity and respect intact. The alternative is a continuation of the strife that has bedevilled and will further damage the association.”

Mr Chidzey said this week: “Despite our concerns about various aspects of the report, which we found deeply disappointing, the trustees are taking it very seriously.

“We have already set up a management working group and accept there are lessons to learn. But the partial and selective approach of the report is unfortunate.”

He said the views of the association’s 6,000 members were being sought and a consultation meeting would be held in January or February.

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