Scarborough's historic Central Tramway delays reopening after carriages leave funicular railway during major refurbishment

The two carriages at Scarborough's oldest cliff lift company were removed by crane in January for the first time in more than 140 years as part of major refurbishment works.

Central Tramway had hoped to reopen in time for Easter and the return of tourists during the school holidays, but this has now had to be postponed.

In an engineering update, the company said that due to delays with the fabrication and galvanising of the new chassis the repairs will not be completed in time.

A spokesperson for Central Tramway said: "Our engineers are hopeful that the tramway will be operational again by mid-May but are still unable to give a definitive date.

"We are sorry for the disappointment and inconvenience this may cause those of you hoping to visit us during the Easter holidays."

The two carriages have not been refurbished since the 1970s but have now been taken to a specialist yard in Rotherham to be stripped down and fully rebuilt under the expertise of Martin Hudson, Managing Director at Wheelsets UK.

The carriages will receive new floors, ceilings, lights, seats and brakes, as the vehicles suffer badly from weather-related corrosion in their exposed cliffside location - as well as damage caused by seagull droppings.

The project is being overseen by General Manager Helen Galvin - who became the first woman to hold the position in the tramway's history when she took on the role in September last year.

Current chairman Neil Purshouse's family took a stake in the business in the 1960s, but it has been operating since 1881 and is still owned by the company that first registered it. It was electrified in 1920 but has undergone surprisingly few technological upgrades since before World War Two.

In January, daughter Amy Bartle said: "We trust Martin and the team. It's about making sure it's back in service in good time, so it was really more [about checking] there wasn’t anything unexpected that presented itself because once you start taking it apart and removing parts there are some unknowns.

"They had assessed the integrity of some of the parts, but once you start moving those parts, it was whether any of that integrity was going to be an issue."