The world’s oldest train station needs £500,000 to be restored before the 200th anniversary of the railway, campaigners have said.

Heighington station, beside the Stockton & Darlington Railway line in Durham, is where Locomotion No 1, designed by George Stephenson, was placed on the track before its first journey in 1825.

The original station building beside the line was commissioned in 1826, and remained in use until the 1970s.

The Grade II listed building was later restored and opened as an inn in 1984, but has been closed since 2017.

The Friends of the Stockton & Darlington Railway estimate that £500,000 is needed to buy and restore the building, £400,000 of which they estimate can be raised through grant applications.

Niall Hammond, the chair of the Friends, said: “It is where Locomotion No 1 was first placed on the tracks, it is where three boys became its first passengers, and it is the world’s first railway station – the cobbles outside it may well be the world’s first railway platform!

“All these things make it incredibly historically important, which is why it is a Grade II* listed building and so is among the top eight per cent of most important buildings in the country.

“In terms of the bicentenary celebrations for which so much is being planned in Durham, Darlington and Stockton, its current condition is a blot on our collective endeavours and Historic England have recently added it to their Heritage At Risk Register.

“It is a key location on the route of the planned S&DR cycle and footpath and it could provide a completely different experience for the visitor if it is turned into a Georgian-themed railway inn.

“There are so many great stories attached to it that it should be a source of inspiration and education to the next generation and it should be an object of pride to local people and the businesses around it that their forefathers were involved in something revolutionary that changed the world.

“This is a great way for people to get involved – even just signing our online petition, which will cost nothing but could be very important, will show the size of local support to potential funders.

“We have to do something: it would be such an embarrassment if, in 2025, this building of international importance still stands there rotting away.”

The building was one of three commissioned by the railway in 1826, before the modern concept of a ‘‘station’’ had developed, as a place for passengers to wait and for goods to be dropped off.

The first phase of the campaign is to acquire the station and stabilise it. The Friends’ second, longer-term, phase is to bring it back into economic and community use, perhaps as an 1825 pub or restaurant with accommodation.

“It is in a shocking state,” said Paul Howell, the Sedgefield MP.

“When I worked nearby at Perstorp-Warerite in the late 1980s, that was our place for a drink at the end of the day and so it is sad to see it as it is.

“It is proper history, and it really should be in a condition to take part in the bicentenary celebrations, so the Friends have my full backing and support.”