A BAND of ex-Mid Hants Railway directors have joined forces to call for the resignation of board members, following a four-year legal battle which, they claim, has cost the company a great deal of charitable money.

The challenge follows an out-of-court settlement, agreed on Wednesday last week between the Mid Hants Railway plc and its former locomotive superintendent, John Bunch.

The civil claim against Mr Bunch was dropped just days before the case was due to be heard in the High Court.

The decision has motivated those directors who felt unable to support the action to call for an investigation into why it was allowed to continue and how to recoup the loss of associated legal fees.

In statements following the out-of-court settlement it has been revealed that all claims have been withdrawn and both parties have agreed to pay their own costs, save that "in the interests of finalising the settlement" the railway has made a nominal contribution to Mr Bunch's costs.

The settlement is also said to include the withdrawal by Mr Bunch of his claim to the Employment Tribunal for unfair dismissal.

Nonetheless, Mr Bunch's dismissal still stands and, despite still owning five locomotives which will continue to operate on the Alton to Alresford line until the lease runs out in 2014, he has agreed not to enter the railway's premises for 15 years.

The settlement brings to an end four years of dispute.

The saga began in August 2000, when John Bunch was suspended from the railway and later arrested by police in connection with alleged financial irregularities connected to the company.

The arrest followed concerns, thrown up by an internal investigation, about a situation whereby the main locomotive owner was also in charge of where and when to spend MHR funds in the loco department.

According to the MHR, the investigations and subsequent litigation has involved tracking down and speaking to many of those involved with the MHR since its inception.

Last week the dispute was brought to an end and a joint statement released which read: "Mid Hants Railway plc has withdrawn its High Court proceedings against John Bunch and in return John Bunch has withdrawn his Employment Tribunal proceedings against Mid Hants Railway plc.

"Mid Hants Railway plc accepts that John Bunch is not guilty of any fraudulent or criminal activity."

For John Bunch, protesting his innocence has taken its toll. He has suffered ill health which at times has led to hospitalisation.

When the allegation of dishonesty was dropped against him in December 2001, Mr Bunch felt that, short of considering defamation proceedings, the only route to clearing his name was to bring a claim for unfair dismissal before the Employment Tribunal.

Not long after his claim had been filed, the railway began its own High Court proceedings.

Now that the matter has been settled out of court, Mr Bunch believes the MHR may wish to address the matter of wasted costs. Having insisted on a token contribution to his costs by the railway, John Bunch has not pressed further.

According to his statement: "He does not want to bankrupt the railway that he has spent much of his adult life (from the early 1970s) trying to support and build."

It is an issue taken up by ex-MHR plc director, John Gibbins, and his MHR Preservation Society Ltd (MHRPS) counterparts, ex-directors Barry Eden, Roger Hardingham, Mike Knight, Iain Pate and Iain Pudney.

Ejected from office due to their refusal to support legal action against John Bunch, they now feel vindicated.

Mr Gibbins said: "That my fellow board members were so ready to accept Mr Bunch's guilt without evidence being produced is a travesty and should be a lesson to all those involved in the management of heritage railways not to listen to rumour and tittle tattle."

He continued: "Substantial sums have obviously been spent by the railway on the unwarranted prosecution of John Bunch. I call upon those who have used what are arguably charitable funds to repay the railway from their own pockets."

A statement from the MRHPS ex-directors not only demands an explanation of how this "sad state of affairs" was allowed to develop, but echoes Mr Gibbins' call for an explanation as to who had sanctioned the expenditure of "many tens of thousands of pounds" on legal fees and how the directors were intending to repay the money.

"We ask for the resignation of those board members of MHR plc and MHRPS who allowed this abortive and costly action to get this far."

Mr Gibbins was of the same mind: "Now is the time for all the directors to hold their heads in shame, reinstate all those directors forced out of office and then to resign themselves without further delay."