Two historic railway signs will be returned to their former trackside glory after years spent gathering dust in a Chorleywood loft.

The distinctive Great Western Railway hoardings stood on the platform at Gloucestershire’s Moreton-in-Marsh station until a major renovation project in the late 1960s.

Some four decades later Network Rail has accepted an offer to return the signs to the picturesque Cotswold Line station.

Rickmansworth railway buff Christopher Horne, of Norfolk Road, recalled how he rescued the signs – a chocolate and cream coloured Great Western Railway running-in board bearing the name of the station and a cast iron warning sign.

Mr Horne, a foremer Moreton resident, said: “They were having an orgy of destruction. I was telephoned and told to come as quickly as I could and get what I could. I loaded them into my old Morris Minor convertible.”

Originally the signs were stored at his grandmother’s house in Moreton but were eventually moved to Mr Horne’s parents’ loft in Quickley Lane.

Following the death of his father, Fred, earlier this year, the signs have been moved to Mr Horne’s garage in the village, where they are awaiting collection by Network Rail.

He said the signs are "exactly the same" as the day he rescued them, although they will need some minor restoration work.

The signs are due to be returned to the platform at Moreton once work to complete the re-doubling of the Cotswold Line is completed next year.