HEREFORD station's platforms have undergone a transformation thanks to the efforts of a volunteer-run community group.

The seeds for the Hereford Railway Project were sown in May last year, when Hereford Community Clean Up Group founder Andrew Wood received complaints about the amount of litter being thrown over the fence on Barr’s Court Road onto the railway property

"When I had a look it was pretty bad, but what concerned me more was the state of the raised flower beds on the station platform," Mr Wood said.

"I did a bit of investigation, and found that they had not been touched since the Queen visited in 2012!"

After getting in contact with station manager, Samantha Edgerton, the group was given the green light to start clearing the mass of brambles and removing plants and shrubs that were fighting for light.

Starting on the beds furthest away from the Victorian-Gothic station building and working back towards to waiting room, the volunteers took on the mammoth task, removing more than 40 large commercial bins of brambles.

And after some negotiation, new franchise operator Transport for Wales agreed to purchase all the new plants for the revamped beds.

"I have no idea of the hours we have put in in the 15 months it's taken to complete, but it’s many hundreds from a small group of volunteers," Mr Wood said.

Those hours have all been proven to be worthwhile, with the station chosen to take its place on the judging route for this year's Hereford In Bloom.

Featuring a bed of grasses, a wild flower bed, a bed of David Austin Roses, and a bed of shrubs, the planting is interspersed by trees that will add colour to the station for years to come.

The group will continue to take charge of the maintenance, by watering and weeding.

"It's been a great success by a small team of fabulous volunteers, and a station manager, Samantha Edgerton, who has done everything she can to get her bosses on board," Mr Wood said.

"I'd also like to say a very big thank you to Anne Elizabeth Jones, who was the first person to volunteer to help me and is still with us working every week to make out railway station a nicer place to be."