Crewe's bid to become the headquarters of the Great British Railways is on track and it makes 'perfect sense' to locate it in the town, Cheshire East's deputy leader said.

Cllr Craig Browne, told the meeting of the full council, the government has finally launched the competition to find a location for the headquarters of the Great British Railways.

"This is an incredible opportunity for Crewe, which is a town born out of the railway and of course with a proud railway heritage, so bringing the headquarters here does make perfect sense," he said.

"Crewe is at the heart of the UK's rail network and provides us with a chance to kick start levelling up and deliver rail led transformation to the town.

"The arrival of great British Railways headquarters will serve as a catalyst to town centre regeneration."

He said the council believed the town meets every one of the government's six criteria.

"Alignment to the levelling up objectives; well-connected and easy to get to; opportunities for great British Railways, railway heritage and links to the network; value for money and strong demonstration of public support," said Cllr Browne.

"And I'm delighted that our bid for Crewe is already gaining the support of our strategic partners. Already Cheshire West and Chester Council, Warrington Borough Council, the Local Enterprise Partnership and Growth Track 360 have declared their support for Crewe.

"There aren't many places in the country that have both the heritage and the existing railway skills that we have in and around Crewe."

Great British Railways (GBR), a planned state-owned public body, will oversee rail transport in Great Britain from 2023 and will replace Network Rail as the operator of rail infrastructure.

It will control the contracting of train operations, the setting of fares and timetables and the collection of fare revenue in most of England.