A LISTED signal box near Keighley Railway Station can be dismantled and rebuilt over the Pennines after ambitious plans were approved.

Network Rail intends moving the structure to Irlam Station in Salford, where it will be turned into a "museum of signalling".

A partnership between a number of groups has been working to restore Irlam Station to its former glory, and several heritage attractions have already been installed.

Now Bradford Council has given the green light for the box to be shifted.

A planning spokesman said: “The removal of the signal box will take it from its original historic location and, indeed, out of Bradford Council’s administrative area.

"However, the agent presents strong arguments that this has to be weighed against the opportunity to secure beneficial re-use of the redundant structure in a working railway environment.

“In support, the national Railway Heritage Trust also makes the point that in its present location, the signal box is stranded between an operational railway and a Network Rail maintenance depot.

"This means that it is impossible to find any use for the building, as it is inaccessible without entering onto a fenced operational railway compound.

“As a result of disuse, the building is gradually deteriorating and, as a building with no function, the box will not feature high in the priorities of maintenance spending by Network Rail.

“Failure to take this opportunity will result in the box remaining in situ and an unused and deteriorating asset."

The Midland Railway box was built in 1884 to control the junction between the mainline and the Worth Valley branch line. It was moved 19 metres to its current location in 1995.