A music mogul has backed a weekly newspaper’s campaign to bring a new national rail body’s headquarters to its patch.

Pete Waterman has backed a campaign by the Crewe Chronicle and its Cheshire Live companion website to make Crewe the headquarters of Great British Railways.

HTFP reported last month how the Chronicle had launched its campaign as the Department for Transport seeks a base for the new body, that will oversee rail transport in Great Britain from 2023.

A bid has now been officially submitted on Crewe’s behalf by Cheshire East Council, providing a splash for the Chronicle on Wednesday, pictured below.

Mr Waterman, a noted rail enthusiast who lives in Cheshire, is best known for his part in the Stock Aitken Waterman songwriting partnership that produced more than 100 UK top 40 hits.

Urging readers to back the campaign, he told Cheshire Live: “I’ve been fighting for Crewe for longer than I care to imagine. I think this is an amazing deal and at the end of it, this goes to a public vote. That public vote is important and the community has to get involved.”

Speaking to HTFP, Cheshire Live senior editor Marc Waddington said: “If you think ‘trains’, you think ‘Crewe’. If you think ‘trains and celebrities’, you probably think ‘Pete Waterman’.

“So to have Pete on board with this campaign is absolutely fantastic.

“His is not just some celebrity endorsement: Pete’s knowledge of rail and railways is encyclopaedic, and the passion and profile he’s bringing to realising Crewe’s dream to be the home of Great British Railways has no rival among any of the 42 other bids.”

Reach plc sister title the Derby Telegraph has also previously endorsed its patch’s bid in the Great British Railways competition.