Avon Valley Railway: £30k of metal fittings stolen

The metal fittings were taken from the goods shed at Bitton Station

A railway charity says more than £30,000 worth of its metal fittings have been stolen.

Avon Valley Railway said its goods shed at Bitton Station, near Bristol, was broken into on Wednesday night.

Some of the stolen parts date back to 1910, and are no longer manufactured.

The heritage railway said it was "disappointing and frustrating", but that it still hopes to reopen later this month, as Covid restrictions ease.

The Avon Valley Railway is mostly run by volunteers and works to restore the heritage line and its trains.

On Wednesday night, a hole was cut in a fence, where it borders the Bristol to Bath railway path, and brass fittings were taken.

Some of these fittings were stolen from the shed

Head of operations, James Uppington, said: "It's really disheartening, because restoring locomotives can be 10 years' worth of effort, then not to be able to put it back together afterwards because the parts have been stolen is hardly ideal.

"They appear to have been reasonably specific in the type of metal they have stolen, it's mostly brasswork.

"We've just finished making a new part for one of our two steam engines, which we wanted to use when we reopen on 22 May. We've now got to get more materials and make the part again."

He added: "Some of these things are from 1910-1920 and they just don't make them anymore, so it's a case of trying to find spares.

"It's not like we haven't had enough to do getting ready to reopen after months of not running trains."

Mr Uppington said the theft has been reported to police.