MID-HANTS Railway locomotive superintendent John Bunch has been released on police bail following an interview in Winchester on June 27 in connection with suspected financial irregularities connected to the company.

Mr Bunch was suspended from duties following police investigations which led to his arrest on August 20 last year.

According to a Mid Hants Railway spokesman, prevented by illness from co-operating with the police at an earlier date, Mr Bunch spent several hours with the investigating authorities before he was released on bail until Wednesday, August 7.

He went on to report that, in a coincidence of dates, John Bunch's solicitor, Robin Atherden, represented his client 'as lawyer and proxy' at the Mid Hants Railway plc annual meeting, held in Alton four days earlier when a motion "that John Bunch be removed from office as a director of the Mid Hants plc" was placed on the agenda.

Speaking for the motion, Mid Hants Preservation Society chairman, Jim Russell, said that a straw poll of members had indicated the majority of those canvassed had indicated support for the motion. "Should it be necessary, I am prepared to use the Society's block vote in favour of the proposition," he said.

Urging moderation, Mid Hants Railway plc chairman, David Snow, said that he would prefer resolving the issue by a card vote, taken by share-holders present at the meeting.

Commenting on calls for John Bunch's resignation, following his arrest, Robin Atherden said: "We should give him the opportunity to give his side of the situation, bearing in mind that charges have yet to be laid."

A written statement circulated on behalf of John Bunch, some weeks before the annual meeting, concluded that: "John Bunch will be quite content and not merely by reason of legal compulsion, to submit himself to the will of his fellow members, as determined by their vote at the meeting."

In the event, the shareholder card vote resulted in 50 for the resolution and 13 against. There were nine abstentions.

r A spokesperson for Hampshire Police confirmed that an employee of the Mid Hants Railway, who had been suspended, was interviewed on June 27 and subsequently released on bail until Wednesday, August 7.