Swanage Railway suspends heritage steam trains after fire

Firefighters tackled the flames near a railway embankment between Harman's Cross and Corfe Castle

A heritage railway has suspended its steam services after a spark from one of its trains ignited a fire.

Firefighters were called to the blaze at a railway embankment between Harman's Cross and Corfe Castle in Dorset on Saturday.

The fire spread to adjoining fields before being brought under control.

Swanage Railway said it would only be running diesel trains until further notice. It cited the recent hot weather for the increased risk of fire.

Swanage Railway has been running steam trains as a tourist attraction since the 1990s

Trevor Parsons, a director of the heritage line, said he was volunteering as a guard at the time when he saw the "very small spark".

He said the fire service was informed immediately.

Mr Parsons told the BBC the train's crew always continuously spray water on the hot ash to cool it down before it lands on the tracks but the dry conditions had made fires more likely.

"We will review [the use of steam trains] on a day-to-day basis," he said.

"We'll consider temperatures, what it looks like and ongoing conditions."

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said outside fires were a "massive concern" while the weather was so dry.

"Last month, we attended 339 fires in the open, compared to 120 last July - that's an increase of 182%," it added.