THE gloves are off in the battle to win public support for an ambitious money-spinning visitor attraction in Ashburton.

The Friends of Ashburton Station want to gauge the strength of feeling about their plans to revive the town's railway past by revamping one of the country's best preserved terminus sites at Chuley Road.

A public meeting is being held at St Lawrence Chapel on February 28 at 6.30pm to establish whether townspeople will be 'chuffed' with the steam railway venture which could boost the local economy by six figure sums.