Organised bench thieves have spirited away at least £3,800-worth of heavy cast-iron bench ends from the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Cheltenham Racecourse station.

The haul includes some original, but mostly replica, Great Western Railway pattern castings which have the letters 'GWR' in a clever filigree design that reads correctly from either side, so they can be used at both ends of a bench.  Each one weighs around 25kg.

Col. Bob Stark, Chairman of the railway's volunteer Cheltenham Area Group who look after the station, which is within the racecourse grounds at Prestbury Park, said that the bench castings disappeared on Friday 17^th September.  "One of our volunteers reported that the benches had been dismantled and the timber seat and back planks were left strewn on the platform. 

"We searched the station area and found the castings stacked up in a hedge behind our signal box.  We called the police and organised some help to move these very heavy items to safe storage.  But when we returned little more than an hour later, they had disappeared in broad daylight, which suggests we were being watched."

The station is equipped with cctv security cameras and the tape shows that they were removed overnight by shadowy figures using flashlights.

Col. Stark believes theft of the bench ends is the work of thieves who know their value and have a market for them, rather than common metal thieves. 

"They are not worth much as scrap metal but undamaged castings have a value of up to £200 each.  At least three of them are original GWR items which would be worth considerably more at auction.  The thieves avoided harming them - the timbers being carefully removed and the castings unbolted from the platform.

"Only one was left behind and that was because the bolts securing it to the platform were rusted.

"It saddens me greatly that the people who did this would describe themselves as railway enthusiasts," Col. Stark added.  "They're clearly knowledgeable and well aware of the value of Great Western Railway artefacts and I believe that they have a ready market.  They could have been taken to order for collectors or another former-Great Western heritage railway.

"It's especially poignant that one of the benches, a double bench using three of the castings, was presented to the station and dedicated to the memory of a deceased member.  Some others had been presented by well-wishers."

The railway is offering a reward of £500, donated by an anonymous supporter, for information that leads to recovery of the castings or apprehension of the thieves. It has alerted other railways, railwayana auction houses and the Heritage Railway Association to the theft in the hope that the thieves might be caught if they attempt to pass them on.

"If anyone spotted anything suspicious over Thursday night, 16^th September or the following day; have seen people paying unusual attention to artefacts on the platform over recent days or spotted a heavily-laden van or truck leaving the racecourse between 5.15pm and 6.30pm on Friday evening, 17^th September, please report it to police - it doesn't matter how trivial it might seem," says Col. Stark  The railway is working with the police and racecourse management to help step up security in the area.

Cheltenham Racecourse station is currently closed following the railway's serious embankment collapse at Gotherington earlier this year and Col. Stark believes the lack of traffic has encouraged the thieves to strike. 

Earlier in September music industry statesman and railway enthusiast Pete Waterman launched a £1m appeal to fund the repair of the damaged embankment.

The benches have been collected over several years and were an attractive feature of the station, which was opened by The Princess Royal in 2003.

Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway: 'The Honeybourne Line' - www.gwsr.com

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Photograph: Great Western pattern cast iron platform seat end with the letters 'GWR'.  This is one of three similar patterns with different letter designs.  The 'GWR' (which stands for Great Western Railway) can be read from either side.

Media contact: Ian Crowder, 07775 566 555 or ian.crowder@gwsr.com