Students have come to the rescue of a memorial to mark the spot where Paul Simon wrote one of his most famous songs.

A plaque has been replaced at the Widnes railway station in Cheshire where the musician penned the lyrics to Simon and Garfunkel's Homeward Bound.

Plaques have been put at the site before but over the years they have been stolen by souvenir hunters.

A group of media students from Warrington Collegiate Institute decided it was about time for a permanent tribute to their hero.

Secure

So out of college funds they offered to replace the plaque, this time with secure fittings.

At a recent concert, Simon pleaded for the safe return of the plaque to the station.

He wrote the song in 1964 while waiting for a train to take him home after a tiring UK tour.

It was the first UK release from the duo in 1966.

It is questionable whether the site of the new plaque is the exact place Simon wrote the lyrics because there were two stations in Widnes at the time.

Lecturer Stephen Wainwright said: "Although it is debatable whether Simon actually wrote Homeward Bound at Widnes station the plaque, I am sure, has returned to its spiritual home."