A number of poppies put up at two railways stations in advance of Remembrance Day were removed by the staff in the case of confusion with a signal.
The poppies were put up at Altrincham's railway station and Hale's railway station by volunteers from these areas in a tradition started a number of years ago.
On Friday (November 10), it became clear a number of poppies were removed by the staff in the interest of "customer safety" and "staff safety".
Oliver Carroll, a candidate for the Conservative Party at the next election, wrote to Craig Harrop, a director at Northern Rail, for an explanation.
Mr Carroll said: "I learned with dismay the staff at Altrincham railway station and Hale railway station removed poppies placed at the stations where they have been displayed for a number of years without incident. Apparently this has been done in the name of a concern for safety.
"However, no evidence has been presented the drivers do mistake these poppies for a signal nor have there been any concerns raised over the course of the last decade when these poppies have been presented at Altrincham and Hale. Indeed, the decision to remove these poppies was done without consultation with the civic societies."
Mr Carroll added: "Our railway stations are centres of civic activities not least during this period of remembrance. You will not need to be reminded of the role which railway staff, past and present, played in wartime and of the responsibility Northern Rail, as the present custodians of these stations, carries in upholding their memory.
"I would urge you to reconsider this policy by the staff at the earliest possible opportunity."
A spokesperson for Northern Rail said: "We welcome the display of poppies at our stations but these should not be in the driver's line of sight where they may be confused for a signal and compromise customer safety and railway staff safety.
"In October, we wrote to station adoption groups and volunteer groups connected to our estate about this issue. Poppies displayed in unsafe locations are therefore removed for safekeeping and returned to the appropriate station adoption group or volunteer group on the condition they are displayed in a more suitable location at our stations."
This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.
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