A SMALL town station has come second in its region in a national poll.

The World Cup of Stations is an online poll run by National Rail that aims to find Britain’s favourite train station.

The poll invites people from across the country to vote, with several regional polls taking place before the final to decide the winner.

There are 2,579 stations in the country and Hedge End station made it into the last 48.

It also came second in its region after being beaten by Sevenoaks station in Thursdays poll.

Sheree Whetren, Customer and Community Ambassador at the station, was very pleased to see her station get this far in the poll.

She said: “I’d like to thank everyone who voted for us.

“The station was up against some large locations, so to make it into the competition, let alone second place for the region, is just fantastic.

“I wish Sevenoaks all the best for the next round.”

Sheree took on the role a year ago, and since then has been making changes to the station to make it more community based and appealing to residents.

Local schools have been involved with decorating the station, creating art work for keyworkers travelling to and from Hedge End.

She has also placed flowers and hanging baskets around to make the station more visually appealing, as well as running a Christmas appeal for elderly residents, and adding a bug and bird hotel in at the station to attract more wildlife.

A Facebook page has been created for the station for people to leave feedback, with many locals taking to the page to praise the work that is going on and the improvements that have been made.

Looking forward, Sheree is hoping that over the next year, she can continue to make improvements to the station and gain further support, to go even further in the competition next year.

She added: “Being in the top two percent of the UK is a huge achievement for little Hedge End.

“I have plenty of other ideas for the station.

“The local school has already helped me decorate the booking hall for Halloween, and I’d love to hear from others in the area if they would like to get involved.”

The winner of the online poll will be decided today (October 16).