PLANS to restore a historic covered walkway at Great Malvern's Victorian railway station are moving into higher gear.

The iron-roofed walkway, known locally as the Worm, linked the station with the Imperial Hotel, now Malvern St James school, allowing first-class passengers to enter the hotel without venturing out into the open.

It has not been used for decades and has fallen into disrepair.

But Peter Clement of Friends of Malvern Railways wants to repair it and bring it back into use as a visitor centre for rail users arriving at Great Malvern, and has approached the Railway Heritage Trust and the Heritage Lottery Fund for support.

He said: "I contacted the Heritage Lottery Fund just after Christmas and the response I received was encouraging. The Railway Heritage Trust also looks likely to come up with £10,000 for the project."

Mr Clement envisages that the Worm could be used to house displays about the town's history, possibly in collaboration with Malvern Museum, and for displays of art, similar to the displays along Church Walk in the town centre.

It's too early to say when all this will go ahead, but Network Rail will be restoring the canopies and the decorative iron columns at the station in 2018, so it would be great to do this at the same time." he said.